


John C. Winchester, Jr.

by Sammynughh



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel (Supernatural) Has Powers, Child in the Bunker, Dean Plays Video Games w/Pre-Teen Boy, Dean Teaches Sonny About Demons, Dean Winchester Has a Fear of Flying, Dean Winchester is a Little Boy's Hero, Death (Billie) Gets Involved, Demons, Don't Want To Give Away Story Here, Implied/Referrenced Child Molestation, John (Orig Character) Learns Cas is an Angel, Just Believe In Magic Miracles & Winchesters, M/M, Non-Consent Uncle/Nephew Incest (Understood), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Return of Azazel, Return of Ruby, Sam Car Crash, Sam Drives Baby Alone to New York, Sam's Captured By Demons, Sam's Sexually Assaulted, Sam/Dean Phone Tag, Soul Stone (SPN), Tags Ruin Good Stories, The Blade of Nightmares (Non-Canon), Tortured Sam Winchester, Werewolves, Wincest - Freeform, water gun fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-05-19 13:18:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19357810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammynughh/pseuds/Sammynughh
Summary: WARNING MATURE AUDIENCES ONLYTHIS IS WINCESTEventual Sex Ch 13 & after,Sexual Assault in Ch 7, Character Deaths,Reference/Implied Uncle/Nephew Incest,Reference/Implied Child Molestation,Protective!Dean, Injured/Hurt!Sam,Major Angst, Feels, Some Humor,Anxious Moments, Action,WORDS: 34,615 total - 2,000+/Chapter.15 Chapters + Epilogue.Story CompleteSUMMARY: (Post S14.) Dean is working a vampire case in Wichita, KS. He's in an abandoned building and finds a horrible crime happening. He takes matters into his own capable hands. Now he has a child that needs a good home. His first thought is Sonny. Thing is, this kid has been through a lot! It's okay though. John has Dean to protect him. We all know where this train is going. Even Dean has to face it eventually. Just know this story is all about the ride getting there. (I labled this as wincest because S&D are that close. They keep a romantic distance due to the kid. Once you get to Ch 13 - Epilogue you'll CLEARLY see this is a Wincest fic.)~~~~~Wincest Canon-divergent meaning the story line was altered from SPN canon facts on purpose. SPN Characters are not mine.~~~~~





	1. A Kid In The Bunker

Dean walks into the abandoned building slowly. He's expecting to find a vamp nest. He searches the place, floor by floor. He finds nothing until he gets to the lower level. He hears a child sobbing and a man speaking to him over the child's cries of pain.

As Dean gets closer he listens to what the man's saying.

"Shhhh. It'll be okay. Just stay still."

Dean has no idea what's going on, but he's going to find out. He tries the door, but it's locked. He wastes no time. He shoots the lock, but still has to kick the door down.

Inside Dean finds a man that's close to his own age. He's holding a boy that can't be much younger than 10 years old. Both are completely naked. The boy is struggling to free himself. "Let go of me!" The man frees him and he runs behind Dean to hide in what looks like a bathroom or a closet. He shuts the door behind himself.

Dean thinks, _"Good. Don't come out kid."_

Dean sees blood on the bedding. A video camera is set up on a tripod next to the bed.

The man quickly stands up. "It's not what you think." He quickly puts on his jeans.

Dean hasn't stopped aiming his gun at the man's head. He walks over to the video camera and rewinds it a little. He watches only a tiny bit and sees enough.

"I can explain!" The man holds his hands up toward Dean. He looks fearful and desperate.

Dean closes his eyes as his mind suddenly goes back in time...

_Sammy was only 9, Dean was 13. It's the summer of 1991. Dad left Dean and Sam at a motel while he went on a local hunt. The brothers walked to a corner grocery store to buy bread, milk and a few items. Sam wandered off while Dean was looking for some bananas in the produce section. Dean looked everywhere for him. A lady told Dean she saw a boy that looked exactly how he described Sam leaving with a man from her church group. She was kind enough to give Dean the man's name and phone number. Dean found the man's address and walked right into his house. He found Sam naked and tied up.The man was taking pictures of his naked brother. Dean didn't ask questions. He just shot the man multiple times until he knew he was dead. He then took care of his Sammy. He couldn't apologize enough for letting his little brother out of his sight. Sammy blamed himself for wandering off. Both he and Sam disposed of the body and neither ever told their dad or anyone what happened. It was the first time Dean had to kill a man on his own that wasn't a hunt. Their dad had them in a new town within a few days and all was forgotten._

...Dean suddenly remembered every horrid detail. As he opens his eyes, he looks at the frightened face of the boy on the video camera's screen and sees his little brother's freightened expression.

Dean doesn't hesitate. He hardly looks up as he puts a bullet right between the pedophile's eyes.

The boy hiding in the other room screams and starts crying louder. Dean immediately puts his gun away and tosses a blanket over the dead piece of shit. He wipes his finger prints off the camera and will leave it as evidence for whoever finds the body.

He picks up the boy's clothes from the floor and heads for what turns out to be a bathroom. He hands the clothing to the boy through the door without looking at him. "Can you get dressed?"

"You shot him." The boy seems to be in shock. He can't stop crying.

Dean feels the clothing leave his hand. "You're gonna be okay. He can't hurt you anymore. What's your name?"

"John." He sniffles as he finishes getting dressed.

"John, my name is Dean. Let me take you home, okay?"

John comes out of the bathroom. He points toward the hidden body on the bed. "He was my uncle." He's still crying. "My parents died last year in an accident. I don't have anybody else." He wipes his nose on his sleeve.

Dean sees a roll of toilet paper and gives some to the boy to blow his nose. He squats down to look into the kids eyes. "How old are you kid?"

"I'm 10. I'll be 11 next month." He sighs. "You're gonna take me to family services, huh?" He looks so sad.

Dean remembers the boys that Sonny helped at the boys home. "I know someone that might give you a home. He once gave me a home when I was sixteen. It's a great place to live."

John thinks a minute. He doesn't know Dean at all. Dean just saved him from his uncle who was raping him constantly, but Dean's a complete stranger. "I'm not suppose to talk to strangers. Can I trust you?"

Dean stands up. "The choice is yours." Dean hands John his cell phone. "You can call 911 and the police will take you to family services. You'll most likely end up in foster care. Or you can trust me to take you to this awesome place that I know. It has horses and open air. You'll do chores all the time, but you'll get good home cooking and a have a nice warm bed of your own. Sonny is the guy who runs the place and you'll like him."

John nods his head. "Okay. I'll trust you Dean."

Dean smiles. "Are you okay... physically?" How do you ask a kid if his ass is so tore up he needs medical attention? Dean sighs. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

John thinks about that. "I think I'm okay."

Dean thinks he'll let Cas meet him before taking him to Sonny's. If the boy has injuries, Cas might be able to heal him.

Dean leads John to his car and John's impressed by what Dean's driving. "Sweet ride you got Dean." He gets into the passenger seat and Dean notices how he winces when sitting down.

"Thanks kid. My dad gave it to me. He was also named John. He was very brave, just like you."

Dean digs out the seatbelts and uses them. Sets an example for the kid. Safety first.

John smiles. "Your dad's got a cool taste in cars."

Dean sighs at the memory of convincing his dad back in 1973 to buy this Impala. His dad had no idea his son was time traveling back then.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dean arrives at the bunker with John in a little over 2 hours.

John's passed out in the front seat.

Dean quietly tries to exit the car, but the squeaky doors that he never oils for nostalgic reasons wakes him up.

"Where are we?" John rubs his eyes.

"We're stopping at my place to get some food and rest up before heading to Sonny's. I'm going to introduce you to my baby brother, Sammy, and my best friend Castiel."

John exits the car on Dean's side. He follows Dean into the bunker through the garage. "This place is huge! You a millionaire like Bruce Wayne or something?"

Dean laughs. "I wish!"

"Dean?!" Sam yells from the other side of the bunker.

"Yeah!"

"How did the hunt..." Sam sees the kid and abruptly stops talking about hunting vamps. "Who's this?"

"Sammy meet John. John this is my little brother, Sammy." Dean grins.

Sam shakes the kids hand, which is very tiny in Sam's huge hand. "Just call me Sam."

"Okay Sam. Just call me John." He grins slightly.

Sam can tell the boy has been through something.

Cas enters the kitchen where everyone's at. He sees the young face and is curious.

Dean gestures toward Cas. "John this is Castiel. Cas this is John."

John puts his hand out to shake Cas's hand. Cas shakes his hand and can tell the boy is in a lot of pain both mentally and physically.

Dean goes to the cupboard and grabs a bottle of Motrin. He shows John. "This is pain medicine. It'll help you feel better, okay?" John nods. Dean takes one pill out and hands it to the boy with a glass of water. He swallows it.

"Go ahead and sit down. I'll make us something to eat. You allergic to anything?"

"No." He sits down painfully.

Dean pulls out a bag of chips and sets them on the table with a bottle of apple juice. John starts eating them right away. "Take it easy. You don't want a tummy ache."

Cas touches the boys head and heals him while asking what kind of chips he has and if he can have some. John hands Cas the bag. Cas takes a couple and eats them even though he doesn't like tasting molecules.

Sam asks Dean about John while Dean prepares dinner. Dean fills Sam in briefly. Sam agrees that Dean's doing the right thing.

John's very polite and well behaved. He seems to have more energy after being healed and fed.

Dean offers to play video games with him in the "man cave". He gives John options of games a boy his age might like: Final Fantasy, Minecraft, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog, Grand Turismo, UFC, Batman:Arkham Knight.

"You have Minecraft?" John rolls his eyes.

Dean laughs. "It's Sammy's. Like I wanna build crap and play with brick people."

"Exactly." They both laugh.

"Don't make fun of my games!" Sam calls out from the library.

Dean rolls his eyes.

They play Dean's favorite game. Batman. They also play a little Grand Turismo. John's surprisingly skilled with these games. Dean really enjoys John's company.

While Dean kept John occupied, Sam called Sonny and gave him a heads up about John. Sam got John's last name and was able to pull up his pertinent information including where he grew up, went to school, his parent's names and occupations before they died, how they died, John's uncle's info as the boy's guardian and only living relative, etc. He even found his parents death certificates and insurance policy that guarantees John a nice pay out when he turns 18. It will more than cover John's college and cost of living. Good thing his uncle couldn't touch it.

Sam's still fuming over hearing what little bit Dean told him about the pervy uncle. He'll ask more about it when John goes to bed. Speaking of which.

Sam gets up and gently reminds Dean what time it is.

Dean is watching John play his turn at a game. "Hey kid. It's getting late. You finish this last round then it's off to bed. We gotta a long drive ahead of us."

John funishes his game and sets the controller down. "How far are we going?"

Dean turns off the game and plugs the controllers in to charge up. "New York. Since you aren't use to road trips, we're going to fly." Dean cringes.

"Seriously?!" Sam's shocked.

Dean gives Sam a look that tells him to shut up.

"Cool! My mom took me flying to lots of places." His happiness fades as he thinks about his dead parents.

Dean pats his back. "It's good to remember those fun times. They help us get through the bad ones. Come on. I'll show you you're room for the night. It's right across the hall from mine."


	2. Born of Affluence

NOTE: These first 5 chapters won't have a lot of Sam in them because the story is focusing on the relationship between Dean and the young boy, John. There will be a time when the story will focus on Sam, Sam and Dean. I just wanted to make the reader aware that Sam will return, he's just not the current focus. This chapter lets you know a little more about John's parents. Thanks again for reading this story. I really hope you enjoy it. 💜

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Dean and Sam show John his room for the night. Dean gives John an old AC/DC t-shirt to wear and a pair of Jack's sweats that Sam cut into shorts. John asks, "What's AC/DC?"

Sam quickly shuts Dean down before he gets started. "Dean will tell you all about it tomorrow. You need to get some sleep. Go ahead and change. We'll be right outside."

The men step out so John can change. John quickly calls for Dean. The brothers return. John shows Dean the sweats are too big.

"That's okay. There just for sleeping in. You pulled the string as tight as you can, right?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Okay." Dean grins.

John gets into bed. Dean notices that Sam made the bed up with Jack's soft blanket. It kinda tugs at Dean's heart seeing Jack's things being used by John.

Dean leaves a dim desk light on, but turns the other lights off. "You okay with this light on?"

"Yes. Thank you." John looks a bit scared.

Dean nods as he goes to the door. "This door locks. See the twist on the knob?"

John nods that he does.

"Just twist it so it's up and down and it's locked. Nobody can come in if you lock it. Okay?"

"Not even you?" John is holding the covers to his face.

"If I have to, I can kick the door down to save you. So, if you need to lock it, go ahead." Dean gives a slight grin. "Try to get some sleep. Don't be afraid to come into my room and wake me if you need to. I understand. Okay?"

John just nods.

"Goodnight." Dean shuts the door. He looks at Sam, who was waiting for him outside the bedroom door. Sam smiles at him.

They soon hear the pitter patter of feet and then the door nob moves a tad bit as John locks it then rushes back into his bed.

Sam's heart breaks for the kid.

Dean gives Sam a hug then pats his shoulder. "Come on."

They go into Dean's room and sit on his bed.

"You're really going to fly to New York?" Sam can't believe it.

"You are too. I'm not going to fly back by myself. Better yet, you drive out to meet us. I'll hang out until you get there." Dean smiles knowing he won't have to fly back.

"Why aren't YOU driving out there with John?" Sam doesn't get it.

"I can't be alone with him in a motel room, Sammy. Think about it."

Sam doesn't understand.

Dean explains exactly what he found when he kicked down the door in that abandoned building. He tells Sam how John pryed himself from his uncle's arms and ran, completely naked, into a bathroom to hide. He goes into some detail as to what he saw on the video camera that the pervert had set up. He was recording his sex acts with the 10 year old boy. He tells Sam he didn't think twice about shooting his rapist between the eyes. He covered up the body and got the boy out of there.

Sam has tears rolling down his face as he realizes what John went through. What Dean witnessed.

Dean pulls his little brother into his arms. "It'll be okay Sammy. John's going to live with Sonny. He's going to know what it's like to be loved and have a fun childhood."

Sam nods and sits back. He wipes at his eyes. "Sorry. Just brought back some memories."

"You remember THAT?" Dean's surprised.

"When I was 9? Yeah." Sam stands up. "It's okay." He wipes his suddenly sweaty hands down his thighs then crosses his arms over his chest. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You don't look it." Dean's worried now about both his brother and John.

Sam turns from his pacing. "Hey. Why don't you go ahead and book the tickets for you and John to fly out tomorrow. I'm going to drive to Walmart and buy the kid some clothes that fit." Sam needs some alone time.

Dean looks at the clock. "It's 9 o'clock. You sure you're up for fighting what's out there right now?" Ever since Chuck restarted armageddon, monsters have been coming out in full force after dark.

Sam rolls his eyes. "How long have we been doing this?"

"Fine." Dean throws his hands up in surrender. He tosses Sam Baby's keys. "Just make sure you call me every 30 minutes."

He catches the keys. "Fine. You need anything?" Sam thinks beer and NyQuil for the plane ride.

Dean scratches his head. "Beer and NyQuil."

"Gotcha." Sam grins.

Sam heads for the hallway and walks back to Dean's room. "How are you suppose to check in on him if his door's locked?"

Dean turns his laptop around so Sam can see. Dean has a web cam set up in the room aimed from the ceiling. John's asleep. "I put it in the smoke detector."

"Is there one in every room?" Sam's about to go off on his brother.

"No." Dean counts off on his fingers. "I put one in Jack's room, Nick's room, Lucifer's room." He gives Sam a very serious look. "You know, people I don't trust in my home."

Sam just turns and leaves.

~~~~~~~~~~

  
John wakes up screaming.

Dean has a pick for John's door lock. He unlocks the door and turns the lights on. Dean stayed fully dressed. He goes to John and sits beside him. "You okay?"

John throws his arms around Dean's neck and cries his eyes out. Dean holds him in his arms and rocks him like he did Sammy when he had nightmares as a kid. "Don't leave me. Everyone leaves me."

"Shhhh. I'm right here. You're safe here." He rubs John's back.

After a few minutes John stops crying. He still holds on to Dean, but he sits back and wipes at his face.

Dean points across the room. "See that sink over there? I'm going to get you a cool damp cloth and a glass of water. Okay?"

John nods as Dean gets up to do what he said he would. He returns and John is grateful for the water. He drinks it right down.

Dean hands him the cool damp cloth that he wipes his face with. It makes him feel better. Dean takes it from him when he's done. "You feel better?"

He nods that he does.

Dean sets the cloth and glass on the nightstand. Just then his phone rings. "That's Sammy. He went to get you some clothes." He answers the phone:

Dean: "Yeah?"

Sam: "Just checking in. I'm on the way back. Only had to..

Dean: "Ahh. Okay. I'll see you soon."

Sam: "You with John?"

Dean: "Bad dream."

Sam: "Oh. I'll let you get back to what you were doing. See ya soon."

Sam ends the call. Dean puts his phone up.

Dean asks John, "Do you need to use the restroom?"

He nods that he does. Dean leads him to the bathroom and back. John has trouble holding up his shorts, but makes it okay.

He climbs back into bed and asks, "Will you stay in here till I fall asleep?" He still looks a bit upset.

"Sure." Dean turns the lights off and leaves the door slightly ajar. He returns to John. "Scoot over some."

John makes room for Dean.

Dean lies on the bed with his back against the headboard. He crosses his arms and his ankles. He's still fully clothed and even has his boots on.

John rests his head against Dean's hip. Dean decides to loosen up a bit for the kid and comfort him some. He scoots down and opens his arms. "Come here."

The boy lays his head on Dean's chest and Dean rubs his back. Pretty soon both of them are fast asleep.

Sam called Dean during his drive home a couple times. Dean texted he was with John. Sam started texting he was still on the road.

Sam comes home to find Dean in John's room. Both of them asleep with Dean comforting the boy. In a weird way, it's as if Sam's seeing Dean and himself when he was a young boy. Memories of motels and nights of missing and worrying about their dad fill Sam's mind.

As if Dean could sense Sam watching him, he wakes up and sees his brother standing in the doorway. He looks to John, asleep on his chest. He thinks he could get use to this, but quickly makes that thought vanish. He carefully slides out from under the boy. Luckily, John doesn't wake up. Dean leaves his room, but leaves the door cracked.

He and Sam go to the kitchen to talk. Dean grabs a beer and makes a quick sandwich. Sam just has a glass of milk and a banana.

"John had a nightmare. He said everyone leaves him. It kinda broke my heart. I couldn't just leave him when he asked me to stay until he fell asleep. I fell asleep waiting on him to fall asleep." Dean grins as he drinks his beer.

"I'm glad he has you." Sam grins. "I got everything. Did you get the tickets for New York?"

"The closest airport to Sonny is in Newburgh, which is almost 50 miles from Hurleyville. If Sonny can't come get us, I'll need to rent a car. I'll call him first thing tomorrow. I booked our flight for 11am. Which means we have to be at Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island no later than 9:30. Oh, I made a fake I.D. for the kid. He's John Campbell." Dean pulls out his wallet and shows Sam the fake student I.D. showing the boy's in 6th grade at Lebanon Elementary School. It has the school mascot and everything.

Sam smiles. "I'll print up a Social Security card too, just in case."

Dean sighs. "The airport's almost 100 miles from here. So, we need to leave by 7:30. We should get some sleep."

"I'll go to bed right after printing the Social Security card. Did you know his parents were wealthy?" Sam throws away his banana peel.

"Really?" Dean tosses his beer bottle.

"Yeah." Sam gathers the papers he printed up earlier. He shows Dean. The boy's father was a heart surgeon in Dallas, Texas. His mother was an artist that owned an art gallery. Their combined net worth was over a million dollars. They left their only son a trust that he will get when he turns 18."

"Did you print up a copy of their will?"

"No. Why?" Sam heads for his computer.

"I'm curious as to what, if anything, was willed to John's uncle." Dean cringes just thinking about him. He hates the guy with a hatred he can't even understand himself. Doesn't want to.

Sam does some clicking around. It takes him a little research, but he finds both of John's parents wills in the Dallas County courthouse records. He prints them up.

The father's shows that Gregory Winston Carmichael, born in Houston, Texas, left his only brother, Nathaniel Winston Carmichael, born in Houston, Texas, and now a resident of Wichita, Kansas, the sum of $25,000.

John's mother, Tiana Lebedev Carmichael has dual citizenship, being born in Russia and gaining legal citizenship in the United States in 1992. Her will states her only living heir, other than her husband, is her son, Johnathan Gregory Carmichael, born in Dallas, Texas.

Gregory left a trust for his son to be given to him on his 18th birthday in the amount of $834,000. His college tuition for 4 years must be paid in full before the rest of the trust will be released.

Tiana left her entire art collection to her son as well as a $550,000 trust to be given to him after he graduates college or gets married, whichever comes first."

Sam keeps reading. "Get this. They also had life insurance policies on each of them that pays out in full to their son when he turns 18. A partial payment benefits his guardian annually until he turns 18. The final payout of each policy is undisclosed until he turns 18. I bet they're huge."

Dean shakes his head. "Depending on which university he picks, It could take every dime of his $800,000 from his dad."

"Wonder what happens if he gets a 4 year scholarship, like I did?" Sam scratches his head as he sets his papers aside.

Dean puts the papers he had with the others. "It's for lawyers to figure out, I guess."

Sam agrees. "True, but that annual payout could be beneficial to Sonny with taking care of John's needs."

Sam quickly makes a convincing fake Social Security card for John. He gives it to Dean to put in his wallet.

The brothers look in on John and he's sleeping peacefully.

They go to their own rooms and set their clocks for 6am.


	3. Fear of Flying

Sam made sure to pack his own stuff and take it with him when they all left. He had a hell of a time getting everyone moving this morning. He and Dean had to take super fast showers because John wasn't very fast about his, which was okay.

No one wanted breakfast either. Sam put a couple cereal bars in John's backpack, just in case.

The drive to the airport in Nebraska is uneventful. Sonny agreed to meet Dean and John at their destination in Newburgh, NY.

Dean is nervous as hell. He's pacing back and forth as soon as he exits the car.

Sam walks around Baby and hugs his brother. "You'll be alright. I took your liquid NyQuil and replaced it with a couple pills that'll do the same thing."

"What? You're wrong! The pills DON'T do the same thing, Sam!"

"TSA won't let you take the bottle on the plane." Sam makes a face not wanting to tell him about the bottle of Johnny.

"There's more!" Dean can't believe this.

"Don't hate me. I also took your bottle of Johnny." Sam steps back.

Dean's eyes get big. "Seriously!"

"They would have took it!" Sam shrugs as he points toward Baby's trunk. "It's in the trunk. You can have it when I get to Sonny's."

Dean nods and tries to calm himself.

Sam pulls a necklace from his pocket and places it around John's neck. John looks at the charm on the necklace. "What is this?"

Sam smiles. "You're part of our family now." Sam shows John his tattoo on his chest. Dean sees what Sam's doing and shows him that he has one just like Sam's and it matches the charm on his necklace.

John's eyes get big. "Wow! That's so cool!"

Sam ruffles his hair. "Don't ever take it off. It'll protect you. It's a good luck charm."

John keeps looking at it. "Okay." He thinks how he'll get a tattoo like theirs when he's old enough.

Dean pats Sam's back. He whispers, "Watch your back and don't get dead, bitch."

Sam smiles as he whispers back, "See you in New York, jerk."

The flight will take three and a half hours. That's why Dean gets into Baby's trunk and takes a swig of NyQuil then chased it down with a swig of Johnny before going into the airport.

Once Dean and John go inside, Sam immediately hits the road for New York. He'll most likely drive straight through and only stop when he has to. It's dangerous right now with demons almost everywhere. Monsters are less afraid to strike their victims than they have been in the past. Sam has weapons in the front seat beside him. He's ready for almost any situation.

They left Cas at the bunker. He said he'll call if anything should happen. Otherwise, he'll be listening to angel radio and reading some of the educational material the Men of Letters were so kind to gather.

Dean was able to get through TSA security with John. He didn't mind being frisked by the gorgeous brunette with perfect tits. She winked at him as he helped John get his shoes back on. Dean remembers how chicks really dug how he took care of his little brother when he was 17-18 and Sam was 13-14. He supposes not much has changed.

Because he's traveling with a child, they'll allow him to board early.

Dean understands that just because TSA's on the job, doesn't mean they're able to stop demons or other nasties. He has a container of salt in his duffle. He couldn't bring holy water, but he has a blessed rosary in a wide mouth plastic bottle. He'll get some water from the bathroom once he's at the gate. He feels naked without his gun, pocket knife and angel blade. (They were also left in Baby's trunk.) Dean's always been able to improvise should a situation arise.

He takes John with him to the restroom. "You should go if you can. We'll be on the plane for a little over three hours."

John goes into a stall. He has a backpack on and doesn't bother taking it off to go pee. Sure he could use the urinal like Dean, but he doesn't feel comfortable exposing himself in any way around anyone. Even if it's just to stand there and pee when no one is looking.

Dean finishes urinating. He washes his hands and fills the water bottle with the rosary in it.

A guy washing his hands next to Dean gives him a weird look.

Dean shrugs. "May the Lord bless you."

The man quickly leaves without drying his hands.

Dean laughs.

John finishes up and washes his hands after.

They go to their gate and wait with the others to pre-board. He looks at John. He's just a small kid. His hair is dirty blonde with long scruffy bangs he pushes over to one side. He gives Dean a run for his money in the freckles department. His features are a bit scrawny, but Dean knows how quickly he'll fill out within just a few years. His eyes are a honey brown and really do reflect whatever mood he's in. Just like his Sammy.

"Oh. I almost forgot." Dean reaches into his pocket and gives John his fake school I.D. and Social Security card. He speaks quietly. "Because you're flying with me as a minor, we have to pretend you're my son. Your name is John Campbell. Okay. Can you remember that?"

John looks at his I.D. that shows his actual birthday, has his face, but has his new name on it and a school he's never heard of. He memorizes his new name and the school, just in case. "I'll remember." He places both cards in the side pocket of his backpack.

Dean's feeling the effects of the NyQuil and whiskey on his empty stomach. It calms him some.

They board with no problem. They place John's bag overhead while Dean places his bag below his seat. Dean gets them both buckled in. They're both chewing gum and can't sit still. John is excited. He loves flying. Dean's a mess. He hates it. He's got Metallica songs running through his head as he tries calming his over active mind.

John sees how nervous Dean is. He places his small hand over Dean's. "It's okay. Nothing's going to happen. My mom told me flying's safer than driving." He smiles. "We'd sometimes fly together to her art shows. She would let me have candy and Coke while watching movies as we flew to places." He gets a little upset thinking about his mom.

Thinking about John and what he's going through distracts Dean from his current situation. He holds John's hand. "I miss my mom too. We had a few special times like that. She died recently. So, I know some of what you're feeling. Just as I know my mom was very proud of me. I'm gonna bet your mom was very proud of you."

John hugs onto Dean's arm and cries a bit. Dean puts his hand on John's head as the plane takes off. He closes his eyes and just concentrates on the boy squeezing his bicep.

John finally decides he wants to look out the window. Dean has no desire to do that. He looks away as John leans against the window.

The flight attendant comes by once the plane is level. She takes their drink orders. Dean gives her $10. "Jack. Two please."

"Would you like ice?"

"Sure."

John orders a Coke.

"Are you drinking because of me?" John looks sad, but he's very serious.

"No. Why would you think that?" Dean's shocked by his question.

"My dad use to tell my mom she drove him to drinking. I'm not sure what that means, but I never want to do that to anyone."

Dean sighs as guilt hits him. John's father was driving drunk the night his parents died. He was most likely a functioning alcoholic from the way John describes his dad.

"You are not the reason I'm wanting a drink right now." Dean leans down and whispers, "I'm afraid of flying. It's one of my worst fears. Having a drink will help calm my nerves. That's all."

John actually giggles. "Sorry." He gets serious. "It's okay. I'm here for you like you were for me last night."

Dean smiles. "That's right. Thanks kid." He still hums Metallica songs in his head.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"What's AC/DC?"

Dean's face lights up. "Oh kid. Are you in for a treat." Dean pulls out his ipod from his duffle and cues up _"Thunderstruck"_. He puts the earbuds on the kid and lets him listen while watching his expressions. The song ended and he smiles. "Not bad."

"Not bad?!" Dean's a bit loud. He quickly quiets down. "Not bad?"

"Yeah." John's all smiles.

"Okay. What music do you like?" Dean can't wait to hear this.

"Classical music."

Now Dean's shocked. "No way."

"Way. I play the piano and the violin." John is still smiling.

"I'm impressed. Have you ever played in front of people?"

"Yep. I'm in the orchestra at school." His face falls. "Or at least I was."

Dean has him look up at him. "You'll still be able to play no matter what school you go to. You might be even better than the other kids."

"You mean first chair." John corrects.

"What?" Dean's confused.

The flight attendant brings them their drinks. Dean lowers their trays and she sets the drinks down. Dean asks her for a Coke and she says she'll bring it. Dean places the two tiny bottles of alcohol in his duffle to drink later.

John explains that the best violin player gets to sit in the first chair. Second best gets second chair and so forth.

"So being first chair is important." Dean states as fact.

"That's right. I was first chair until my parents died." John is upset again.

"You still can be. You'll see." Dean hugs him. "Here. Listen to Led Zeppelin and tell me what you think." Dean puts on _"Black Dog"_.

John pulls the earbuds off after less than a minute. "Sorry. It's just not my kind of music."

Dean's a little crushed. "That's all right. I think my little brother only tolerates it because I love it so much. You ever heard of Bon Jovi?"

He nods. "My dad liked them."

Dean puts on some Bon Jovi songs and gives him the earbuds again.

They chew gum, chat, listen to music and drink Coke till it's time to land. That's when Dean starts to panic.

Dean is gripping the arm rests tight. John holds Dean's hand. Dean loosens his grip and gently holds John's hand. He's trembling with fear. John hugs Dean's arm. "Shhhh. We're okay Dean."

Just John saying those words calms Dean as the plane's tires touch down. Dean opens his eyes that he had tightly shut and looks at the little boy next to him.

John smiles up at Dean. "See. Safe and sound."

Dean hugs the boy to his chest as he takes deep breaths. "Safe and sound."

~~~~~

They exit the plane with their bags and make their way outside the terminal.

"D Dawg!" Sonny yells and waves his hands.

"Sonny!" Dean spots his old friend parked across the street.

John laughs. "D Dawg?"

Dean chuckles. "It's a name he came up for me when I was 16. He thought I was in a gang. I wasn't, but he didn't believe me. So, he called me by a gangster name and it stuck. Huh, Sonny?" They approach as Dean finishes his story

"That's right. I was never happier to be wrong about a kid than I was about this one. Come here you!" He hugs Dean. "I missed you kid"

Dean hugs him back. "Missed you too. Let me introduce you to my new friend. This here is John Carmichael. John, this here is Sonny. He's the best friend any kid could ever have."

John shakes Sonny's hand. "Good to meet you."

"Likewise. You from Kansas?" Sonny smiles.

"Not really. I grew up in Texas." John is a bit nervous.

"Well, I sure can hear that Texas accent. Sounds nice. Have you ever been around horses?"

John smiles. "Yes sir. I had a horse of my own. Her name was Babycakes."

Dean couldn't believe his ears. "You named your horse Babycakes?"

"Yep. She was a beautiful black horse with just a touch of white on her her hooves and under her belly." John started feeling sad again. "I miss her and my old home."

Dean hugs him.

"What you fellas say we get going before I get towed away?"

"Yeah." Dean opens the only passenger door and lifts the front seat for John to get into the back seat. He makes sure he get buckled in before getting into the front seat.


	4. Sonny's Farm

Dean: "Hey Sammy. We're on the road now with Sonny. How're you doing?"

Sam: "I'm good. I just made it out of Nebraska and into Iowa. Baby's running like a champ."

Dean: "I'm not worried about her as much as I am about you. Be careful Sammy."

Sam: "I'll call you in an hour."

Dean: "I'll be expecting your call. Don't tell me you're gonna call and not do it."

Sam: "Dean. I'll call. One hour. Promise."

(Background music sounds like Celine Dion.)

Dean: "You're not playing THAT in MY CAR!"

Sam: (laugh) "Bye Dean."

Dean: "Don't you douche up my car! ... SAM!"

Dean pulls the phone from his face and looks at Sonny. "He hung up on me."

Sonny and John burst out laughing.

"It's not funny. My brother..."

"Is having fun on a road trip, which is exactly what we're gonna do." Still chuckling, Sonny pushes a cassette into his 8 track stereo system and Donna Summer starts singing " _Love to Love Ya Baby_ " over the speakers of his 1976 Chrysler Cordoba.

Dean suddenly mellows out.

John speaks up. "This sounds a lot better than AC/DC!"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Dean's suddenly very grumpy.

"Awe cheer up D Dawg. Remember that burger joint you were so fond of?"

Dean had to think. "You talking about the one in Poughkeepsie? Ahhh. Crew!" Dean's mouth is already watering.

"That's the one." Sonny raises his hand in a high 5 motion.

Dean gives him a high 5. "You're the man!"

"We're going to eat?" John's starving.

"You ever had a $10 burger kid?" Dean thinks for a minute. "Never mind. I'm sure you've had burgers from the best places, huh?"

"Not really. My mom didn't want me eating that kind of toxin. She said it would stunt my growth." He swallows. "I've eaten McDonald's with..."

Dean knows who gave him fast food. He doesn't even want to think about that creep. "Hey. We're going to eat some food that's sure to stunt your growth and you're gonna to love it!"

They listen to 70's disco music all the way to Poughkeepsie.

Dean laughs to himself when they arrive at the restaurant. "You know, Sammy and I have a secret word we use whenever one of us is in trouble and we need to let the other know, without letting the bad guy know, we need help. Our secret word is Poughkeepsie. It can also be my way of telling Sam to drop what he's doing and run. That bad guys are on the way. We always look out for each other. When he calls me and I tell him where I am, I'll have to somehow make sure he understands it's not a secret word scenario."

~~~~~

Everyone is eating and the burger is just as good as Dean remembered. Everything is perfect.

His phone rings and it's Sam. Right on time.

Dean: "Hey."

Sam: "Hey. Still in Iowa."

Dean: "You remember that really good burger place in New York called Crew? It's about 30 miles from Sonny's place. We've been here a couple times. They have $10 burgers."

Sam: "Oh yeah! Crew in Poughkeepsie."

Dean: "You got it."

Sam: "Oh, you didn't say it because you're not in trouble and didn't want me to panic. I get it."

Dean: "Exactly. Now that you get it, I can tell you we went to Crew in Poughkeepsie and we'll be heading to Sonny's right after."

Just then a fight breaks out between two men on the other side of the restaurant. Dean sees smoke rise up and fall back down.

Dean: "Gotta go Sam."

He ends his call. "Grab your burgers and head for the door calmly." Dean places $60 in cash on the table, picks up his burger and exits the building behind Sonny and John.

They make it to the car and finish their burgers while in the car.

Dean calls Sam back as they eat and assure him that everyone is okay. He promises he won't go back inside to _solve_ the problem the men who _seemed_ to be _possessed_ were having. Sam reads between the lines and understands that Dean won't hunt demons while he has John to worry about.

After Dean gets off the phone, John asks, "Why did we have to leave? And why couldn't we just get the waitress to box up our food?"

Dean explains while Sonny drives. "Those men that were fighting were very bad men. I didn't want to take any chance that one of them might accidentally hurt you while they fought each other. If you weren't with us, things might be different. I won't risk you getting hurt."

John smiles. "Thank you for the burger. It was awesome!"

"You're right. It was really awesome because you were with us." Dean smiles. "You buckled up?"

"Yep."

Sonny corrects him. "Yes. Or yes sir. You never know when you might accidentally say yep to someone important and get into trouble. So, it's just a good policy to answer grown ups with yes or no. Adding sir or ma'am never hurts."

"Sorry." John feels like he broke a rule.

"Nothing to be sorry about little man. It's just a lesson we all learn. Right D Dawg?"

"Yes sir." Dean turns and winks at John. John smiles at Dean.

Sonny points at his glove box. "You can pick the next tape. I'd pick Captain and Tennille, but that's just me."

John asks, "Who?"

"I'm still not playing it Sonny. I'm sorry. I will play Wild Cherry's " _Funky White Boy_ " though." Dean puts the cassette in and the disco era comes back to life in Sonny's land yacht.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

By the time they arrive at Sonny's farm, Dean's phone rings again. He touches base with his brother. Nothing new. Sam will call again in another hour.

John takes in his new surroundings. He seems to like it compared to the city.

Some boys approach Sonny. One starts saying something about a broken weed eater. Another boy keeps interrupting denying he had anything to do with it.

Sonny holds his hands up. "Boys! Calm down." He looks toward Dean and John. "Please excuse me a moment while I handle this small crisis. Dean, you know you're way around. Help yourselves inside to the kitchen for a cold drink. I'll be right there."

"Thanks. Take your time." Dean smiles as he watches Sonny coral the boys toward the broken lawn equipment.

Dean looks to John. He seems unsure. "It'll be okay. You'll see."

John just nods and follows Dean into the house. Dean stops at the doorway. "Oh. We're suppose to take our shoes off. This way we don't track dirt or mud through the house." They remove their shoes before going to the kitchen.

John tugs Dean's sleeve. "I have to go."

"Oh, okay. Um. I'll show you where it is." Dean shows him where the bathroom is. Dean points down the hall. "I'll be in the kitchen." John closes the door and Dean leaves him to it.

Just as Dean sits down with a can of generic cola, Sonny walks in and gets a cold bottle of water from the fridge. He smiles at Dean, "Some things never change kiddo. Boys will forever find petty things to bicker over."

"Were you able to fix it?" Dean grins.

"Wasn't broken." Sonny sits down. "Ran out of string. Nick accused Tim of breaking the feeding mechanism by hitting it too hard. Round and round they went. I showed them the problem and how to fix it. Explained that their worse problem was accusing their brother of wrongdoing instead of seeking help from a higher power to begin with."

Dean swallowed hard at Sonny's words. Chuck is such a bastard. If only the real _higher power_ truly gave a shit about any damn thing he created... He sees Sonny looking at him and decides now's not the time to think about how fucked up our lord is. Dean's stomach turns and he has to swallow hard.

"You feeling okay Dean?" Sonny really looks concerned.

"Yeah. Just worrying about Sam and the kid."

John returns to the kitchen and takes a seat at the table. Dean asks, "Did you was your hands?"

"Yes sir." He holds them up.

Dean grins. "Good job."

A boy comes in from outside. "Excuse me."

Sonny smiles. "Yes?"

"May we play in the sprinkler out back?" The boy seems really excited.

Sonny nods. "Gather enough towels for everyone and make sure everyone takes off their shoes first."

He has a huge smile. "Yes sir!" He's almost out of the kitchen.

"Wait!" Sonny looks to John. "You want to go with them?"

John looks like he does, but he shakes his head no.

Sonny gets up realizing that Dean and John should talk a minute. "I'll be right back." He follows the boy out the back door.

Dean looks to John. "You're going to have to try to get along with the other boys. Why not start now?"

John sighs. "Can I show you something?"

"Sure." Dean's worried.

John takes Dean's hand and pulls him to follow him. They go to the bathroom and John shuts the door. He pulls off his shirt and shows Dean the scars on his back and chest. Wounds that Dean didn't see when the boy was naked and escaped his molester because the boy ran too quickly and Dean really wasn't looking. Cas healed his wounds, but the scars are still there.

Dean's heart breaks even more. He kneels down and hugs John. "I'm so sorry you went through what you did."

John hugs Dean's neck. He starts crying. "Please don't leave me here. The others will only make fun of me. They won't understand."

Someone knocks on the door. Dean says, "Just a minute."

He puts John's shirt back on and hands him some toilet paper to wipe his tears. He whispers, "You good?" John nods as he sniffles.

They leave the bathroom and the boy who knocked runs in and shuts the door. He really had to go.

Dean and John return to the Kitchen. Dean looks at John. "You're such a brave boy."

John keeps looking at his tissue that he's toying with. "I don't feel brave. I'm always afraid."

"You know what? So am I."

John can't believe it. "No you're not."

"It's true. You know what overcomes fear?"

John shakes his head no.

"Action. When you do something, anything to stop from being afraid, you're on your way to no longer being afraid." Dean rubs John's back. "Do you understand?"

He looks at Dean. "I think so."

"Good." Dean smiles.

Sonny comes back and his pants are a bit wet. "It's a lot of fun out there. You sure you two don't want to join in?"

Dean's eyes get big. "Me?!"

"Yeah you! Come on D Dawg! It's summer! Let's have some fun!" He heads back outside.

Dean turns to John. "Keep your shirt on. Okay? I won't take mine off either. Sonny still has his on too. What do you say we go have some fun?" Dean has a wicked grin.

John picks up Dean's infectious energy and decides to join in. "Okay."

Dean jumps up. "OKAY! Let's do this!!"


	5. Dean Makes Promises

Dean and John quickly go out to the back yard and see the boys running around through the 2 sprinklers that are set up. There are several water soaker guns and smaller water guns they are using. Dean counts only six boys not including John. All between the ages of 10 and 16.

Dean and John already left their shoes at the front door. They take their socks off and set them just inside the back door. Dean also removes his flannel shirt with his cell phone in the breast pocket, but keeps his t-shirt on. He hangs the shirt on a hook just inside the back door.

He goes to the 50 gallon bucket full of water, picks up a super soaker gun sitting near by and fills it with water. He fills up a second one for John.

Dean hands the gun to John. "Just do what I..."

John soaks Dean from head to toe using the gun. He pumps it again.

Dean pumps his gun. "Oh you did it! It's game on!" He hit John with a stream of water while Dean runs, then does a duck and roll while still shooting and not missing as John is trying to run away.

A boy sees Dean's moves and he's impressed. "Wow!" He tries shooting at Dean and John shoots the kid in the back. The kid pretends to fall dead. John laughs.

Another kid takes aim at John and Sonny jumps in front of John. He too pretends to have been fatally wounded and falls to the ground. John laughs as he steps over Sonny and takes aim at a boy. He shoots, but misses. He keeps moving as he pumps his gun and shoots.

Dean reloads his with water. He quickly runs up next to John and shoots a kid aiming at him. He then trades guns with John. He then goes to reload the gun he took from John.

This water gun battle ensues for a good hour and a half. In the end, all the boys are soaking wet with pruney fingers and toes. They are also very tired.

Everyone has to rinse off their feet at the back door and towel off before going inside to change. They do this one at a time so water doesn't get tracked through the house.

Dean quickly runs inside and finds his duffle in a spare bedroom. He quickly changes out of his wet clothes and into dry ones. He runs back downstairs and grabs his dry socks and flannel shirt. He goes back up to his room and that's when he feels his cell phone vibrating. "Oh shit!"

Dean: "Sammy?!"

Sam: "DEAN!"

Dean: "You okay?"

Sam: "I am now. Fuck."

Dean: "I'm so sorry. I was out back with the kids in the water sprinkler. My phone was inside. So stupid. You're alright though?"

Sam: "Had to kill a werewolf at a gas station. Jumped me from behind. Left some deep scratches in Baby's trunk with his claws."

Dean: "Did you get hurt at all?"

Sam: "Nothing a bandaid didn't fix. I'm good."

Dean: "Have you eaten anything?"

Sam: "Drive thru just before we last talked. I'll eat again before it gets dark; then I might find a motel. I still have 4 to 5 hours of daylight left. I've just made it to Chicago. I'm trying to get out of monster mob central asap. This city gives me the creeps just as much as Detroit."

Dean: "Don't even mention Detroit. Ugh!"

Sam: "Exactly."

Dean: "My phone won't leave my person again. I promise."

Sam: "Pinky swear?"

Dean: "You're such a dork. One hour."

Sam: "One hour. Jerk."

...Dean sees John standing in the doorway of his bedroom watching him on the phone, but he can't leave Sammy hanging. He looks away as he talks into the phone...

Dean: "Bitch."

Dean turns back to John and smiles as he ends his phone call.

John has a shocked took on his face.

Dean has John sit next to him on the bed. "Let me tell you a story. When I was 17 and my little brother was 13 we got into trouble. It was my idea, but I didn't really want to do it because I knew our dad would punish us. Sam kept nagging me and nagging me about doing it."

"What was it he wanted to do?" John's curious.

"Sam wanted to go to the local carnival without our dad knowing. Just me and him. It was my idea to finally agree to this. Especially after Sam kept begging to go. I had him ditch the second half of school one day. Bad idea. He loved school and he complained about the classes he was missing the whole time. We rode rides, ate fried foods and turkey legs, played arcade games and it was a blast! Until Sam falls while getting off of a ride and gets hurt. I thought it was serious. You should have seen me carrying him to a park bench. I had to check if his ankle was broken. So, I move his ankle and he calls me a jerk. I stood up and looked at him. Told him if I'm a jerk, he's a bitch. I told him all he did was bitch about coming to that carnival. We get there and he bitches the whole time we're there about one thing or another. So, we were in a fight. Dad found out I pulled Sam from class to go to the carnival. We both got spanked with a belt. Sam had to wear a bandage around his ankle for a week or so. We eventually apologized to each other and decided to never do stupid stuff like that again. As far as stupid arguments. Well, we try not to argue." Dean grins. "As a reminder, we sometimes end our conversations calling each other Jerk and bitch. It's our secret way of saying how much we mean to each other."

Dean thinks about his brother and how many times they've died in each other's arms. Made sacrifices for each other.

"I wish I had a brother like that." John shrugs.

"Hey. I'll be your brother." Dean gets closer to John and whispers, "Just don't call me a bitch. You'll get into BIG trouble." Dean snorts.

John laughs. "You snorted."

Dean acts shocked. "Did not!"

John keeps laughing. "Did too!"

Dean tickles the boy lightly, not playing too rough with him. He laughs and laughs. Dean stops after a few seconds. John's been through so much with his piece of shit uncle. Dean doesn't want to hurt the boy unintentionally. Whether it's psychologically or physically.

John sits up with a smile still on his face. He hugs Dean. "You're a great brother to have."

"So I've been told." Dean feels himself longing to keep John as his own. These feeling are so similar to the ones he felt with Ben Braeden, Lisa's son, and Jack Kline, the nephilim.

Dean had Cas erase Lisa and Ben's memories of ever having known Dean and his family. It was for their own safety. Demons, correction Crowley, almost killed Lisa. He couldn't live if she or Ben died because of his supernatural affiliation.

Jack died because Chuck feared him and Dean defied God (Chuck). Period. Fuck Chuck.

"Dean?"

"Hm?" Dean comes back from his thoughts of the past. "Sorry." He hugs John. "You're pretty awesome yourself, kid."

Dean hears a guitar playing down stairs. "Robin."

"Robin? As in Batman and Robin?" John smiles.

"I wish." Dean smiles. "No. There's a lady that comes over to play and gives guitar lessons. Her name is Robin."

John is now curious. He goes down stairs with Dean following him. (Dean makes sure his phone is in his pocket.)

Robin is playing a tune he doesn't recognize. He watches as John sits at the piano and accompanies her perfectly. Once the song finishes, everyone claps.

Dean is standing beside John at the piano. "That was awesome."

"Do you know other songs besides " _Clair de lune_ "?" Robin asks John politely.

"I'm able to play quite a few. My mother had me take piano and violin lessons since I was four."

"Four! Wow! I'm impressed." Robin watches as John starts playing again.

John's fingers move expertly over the piano keys. "That was " _Symphany Number 5_ " by Beethoven. He plays another tune everyone knows, but has no idea what it's called. He only plays a short bit. "That was " _Eine Kline Nachtmusik_ " by Mozart." He plays another tune everyone knows. "I like this one." He changes to another tune. "And this one. ... Both are Bach."

Robin smiles. "I like " _Fur Elise_ "."

John stops playing " _Toccata and Fugue_ " and returns to playing " _Fur Elise_ ". Robin accompanies him on her acoustic guitar.

Dean looks around. Everyone in the house is down stairs, in the front room, watching and listening to John and Robin fill the house with the most beautiful music. It's almost enough to move a grown man to tears. Dean won't let that happen though. Not while people might be watching.

They finish and everyone claps. Dean whistles loudly.

John's embarrassed. It reminds him of his recitals in Texas. His mom was his biggest fan. She'd present him with a single red rose and sometimes a personal 5"x7" card that she'd hand painted something on one side using watercolors. Something like a puppy sleeping, a horse or a boy sitting at a piano. On the other side she would write words of praise. How very proud she was of her люби́мый. (Her favorite or her precious one.) John knew what that word meant when she wrote it. It was her special word for him.

Remembering his mom and how proud she was of him makes him start to cry. He gets up quickly and runs outside. Dean chases after him.

Once John realizes there really isn't anywhere he can run to, he falls to his knees. Besides, he doesn't even have shoes on.

Dean quickly catches up to him. "Hey John." He gets on his knees beside John. "I'm here for you."

John looks at Dean with tears pouring down his face. He yells, "For how long, huh?! Till your brother comes and takes you away?!" He pushes on Dean's shoulder. "Go away. I don't need you!"

"John." Dean wants to help.

John really slugs Dean's shoulder as hard as he can. "I SAID GO AWAY!!!"

Dean does the opposite. He grabs hold of the boy. "No. I'm not going to leave you."

"YES YOU ARE!! JUST GO!!" He cries as Dean holds him and isn't letting him go. John finally relaxes. "Don't hurt me."

Dean lets him go. "John?" He looks into the boys eyes and sees fear. "I could NEVER hurt you."

John looks up at Dean's face. He can see that Dean's also crying. He knows Dean's sincere. John tries explaining, "I don't want to be alone, but I have no one. NO ONE!" He's in so much pain. "What do I do?"

Dean places his hand gently on the boy's face. He thumbs away his tears. "You have me. I'm not leaving you. I can't. You're coming back with me and Sam. I should never have brought you here, but I didn't know. How could I have known what you'd mean to me?"

John crawls up into Dean's lap and wraps himself into Dean's arms. Dean holds him.   
"I'll take care of you from now on, okay?"

"You promise?" John has a very tight grip on Dean.

"I promise. You're my responsibility from now on." Dean's mind is going a hundred miles a minute. What the fuck is he going to do with a kid in the bunker? What is Sam going to say or do? How about Sonny? They just had the man drive to the airport to pick them up and they're staying in his home right now. He's expecting John to stay. What a real fucking mess.

John finally loosens his grip and stands up. Dean also stands up. They dust off their clothes. Dean looks John over. "You okay enough to go back inside?"

He holds Dean's hand. "Yeah. I am now."


	6. Demon Trouble

Before they go back inside, Dean has him sit on the steps. He sits beside him. "I want you to really think about this. Just hear me out." Dean stands up and starts pacing. "Living with me isn't going to be like it would be here. I'll try to explain. Do you know what a bounty hunter is?"

John thinks a minute. "A man who hunts down bad guys?"

Dean nods. "That's right. I hunt down bad guys with my brother and Castiel. It's very dangerous. It's why we live in a special hidden bunker. Bad guys can't find us. If you live with us, you won't be able to go to school any more. Sammy will have to home school you. We live too far from town. We'll also have to keep you from being kidnapped or worse." Dean just shakes his head as he thinks about Ben and Lisa. He sighs. "John. Listen to me. If you stay here you'll have your freedom. No worries about someone trying to hurt you." He kneels down in front of him. "You'll have school recitals and dances." He points toward the barn. "You haven't even seen the horses yet."

John shakes his head. "I'd rather live in a cave with someone who actually cares about me and won't leave me, than live in a big house with people who only care for my wants and needs. I've lived like that before Dean! This place is just another boarding school. Another place adults send unwanted kids. If you don't want me just say it."

John is so damn frustrating, but he's right. There's no guarantee Sonny's farm would be a permanent home for him.

Dean's phone rings.

Dean: "Yeah."

Sam: "I'm making good time. I found some open road and let Baby stretch her legs a bit."

Dean: "Take care of her Sammy. You can't push her for too long. She's a senior citizen."

Sam: "I'm well aware of this."

Dean: "You going to stop or drive straight through?"

Sam: "I was thinking I'd stop, but now I'm not sure. I'll let you know in a couple hours."

Dean: "Okay. Watch her gauges and watch your back."

Sam: "Will do."

Dean: "Talk to you in an hour."

Dean ends his call and puts his phone away. He looks over at John still sitting on the steps. "Okay. I'm going to have to tell you some stuff and it might freak you out."

"Can't freak me out any worse than my uncle did." John sighs.

Dean gives the kid a look letting him know that comment wan't necessary. He continues. "Have you ever thought that ghosts, werewolves and vampires could be real?"

John looks confused. "Why are you asking me about that?"

"Just tell me what you think about stuff like that." Dean's trying to be patient.

John shrugs. "I think ghosts are real. I was in school the day my parents died. My mom came up to me while I was at my locker. She told me how much she loved me and told me to be good. I thought she was going away for one of her art functions. Just a little while later I was removed from my class and taken home because my parents died in a car accident earlier that morning. I must have seen her ghost at my locker because that happened after I already had lunch."

Dean nods. "That was your mom saying goodbye. Ghosts are real. Sometimes ghosts just want to say goodbye before crossing over. Some get mad and want to get back at those who caused their death. Some people are just evil and when they die they decide to haunt people. The longer a ghost remains here..." Dean motions toward the ground. "...they get stronger and more angry. They start hurting people. I know how to send them away so they can't hurt anyone anymore. I also know how to kill vampires, werewolves, ghouls, demons and other creatures you've never heard of."

"Is that really why you live in an underground library?" John thinks he understands now.

"Yes. Those books have a lot of information about _things_ people don't want or need to know about." Dean sits back down beside John on the steps. "Sam and I have been hunters almost our whole lives. That's what we're called. Hunters, because we hunt monsters."

John scratches his head. "What is Castiel?"

Dean gives John a look of amazement that he could tell Cas wasn't human. "How could you tell he's not human?"

John looks at Dean and grins. "It just makes sense now. One minute I have cuts and burns all over my body. My... butt hurt so bad I was afraid to eat because I knew I'd eventually have to go number two. My wrists were sore from being tied down. My throat hurt from being choked and things _he_ did to me." John lifts his head and smiles at Dean. "Castiel did something. He touched me and all my pain was gone. I didn't question it. I was just so happy to be able to eat. The chips didn't hurt my throat. My butt wasn't hurting. When I changed clothes was when I really knew Castiel wasn't human. He healed me. I was going to ask about him, but I just forgot to."

Dean is smiling. "Cas is an angel."

"WHAT!" John's eyes are huge.

A boy comes outside. "Excuse me. Sonny told me to let you know dinner will be ready in 10 minutes."

"Thank you." Dean grins up at the teen as he goes back inside.

"Let's go wash up for supper." They both stand up.

"John."

The boy looks up to Dean.

"You can't tell anyone about anything we've discussed. No exceptions. Understood?" Dean's very serious.

Robin comes walking out just then.

"Leaving already?" Dean's a bit disappointed.

She shrugs. "I've got a diner to look after. See ya later Dean." She looks at the young boy next to him. "Nice to meet you John."

Dean waves.

"You too." John waves as she gets into her car. "She seems very nice."

"I had a crush on her when she and I were 16. We thought we were going to run away together." They watch her drive off. Dean looks down at John. "I'm glad we didn't." He ruffles John's hair. "Let's get ready to eat."

~~~~~

At dinner everyone bows their head to say grace except Dean Winchester. That's something he'll never do again. It hurts him that Chuck not only took Jack from him and his family, he took Dean's religious faith as well. He didn't have much to begin with, but he did like having a higher power to pray too from time to time.

They enjoy a home cooked meal. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread and peach cobbler for dessert. Sonny was kind enough to offer Dean one of his beers with dessert.

After dinner the boys work together to clear away the table and clean the dishes. John was able to help. After their chores, the boys sat down for board games or a DVD movie. Two of the boys went to the barn to tend the horses.

"Can I go to the barn to see the horses?" John asks Dean.

"I'm okay with that. Just don't get into anyone's way. They're out there doing their chores."

"I won't!" John yells as he's already putting his shoes on and heading out the door.

Dean sits down with Sonny in the kitchen to have some privacy. He takes his time explaining everything that's been going on with John. His family history, his uncle molesting him, him being very close to his mom, his alcoholic dad that occasionally beat his mom, etc. Why John had that sudden emotional outburst earlier and ran out of the house.

Dean's about to have another beer when his phone rings. "Must be Sammy. It's about time. He's late calling me."

Dean: "Sammy?"

?: "Dean Winchester."

Dean stands up.

Dean: "Who the hell are you and where's my brother?"

?: "Calm down. You're brother's still breathing. For now."

Dean: "I swear if you lay a hand.."

?: "Yada yada yada. It's always the same with you Winchesters. [ ** _BANG_** Sam yells out in pain.]

Dean: "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE DEAD!!

?: "Temper temper Dean. He's fine. Next one goes into his right hand unless you pay close attention and do as I tell you. Are you listening?"

Dean takes a deep breath as he sees Sonny telling the kids to stay out of the kitchen and go back to the living room.

Dean: "I'm listening. Just don't hurt my brother."

?: "Whether you realize it or not, Crowley hid a very important artifact in your bunker. Are you listening Dean?"

Dean: "Crowley left a very important artifact in my bunker."

?: "Very good. This artifact is a black dagger. It's in an ivory box covered with Enochian markings. If you could read Enochian, it would warn you not to open the box. Touching the dagger will kill you. Did you get that?"

Dean: "I need to find a black dagger in an ivory box with Enochian writing on it that warns me not to touch the dagger or it will kill me."

Dean is seething mad.

?: "Excellent. Go outside Dean. Just you, all by yourself."

Dean doesn't want Sam to get hurt again.

Dean: "Okay. I'm going outside."

He points to Sonny. "I'm going out front. You and the kids stay inside. Okay?"

Sonny nods. "You got it." He worries about the boys in the barn, but says nothing.

Dean walks outside and stands on the front steps. He sees at least fifty demons standing around the property. He walks off the steps and finds demons holding the two boys from the barn...

...and John.

Dean's heart is racing.

?: "You outside yet, Winchester?"

Dean's voice is calm even though his body is shaking.

Dean: "I'm outside."

The demons let the boys go and they run toward the steps and into the house. John runs straight for Dean. Dean picks him up and holds him.

?: "You've got 24 hours or Sammy loses his hand. 32 hours we start on Sonny's place. One kid at a time."

Dean is very calm.

Dean: "The boy and I will fly back to the bunker tonight to look for the dagger. Where do you want to meet after I find it to make the exchange. Sammy for the dagger."

?: 170th and Hazelnut Road in Powhattan, Kansas. I'll text you the location. No one leaves the house except you and the boy you came with. Understand?"

Dean: "Yes."

?: "See ya soon Dean."

The demon ends the call. All the demons surrounding the house turn and walk away, but Dean knows they won't go far.

John is trembling in Dean's arms. Dean takes a seat on the steps. "Hey, did they hurt you?"

John wipes his eyes. "No. Just scared me. I've never seen people with black eyes before."

Dean nods. "Those were demons."

"Those are the bad guys you hunt?" He wipes his nose on his sleeve. Little things like this remind him of his brother.

Damn. Sammy. Dean's heart hurts for him right now. What kind of torture are they putting him through right now? Where did he get shot? Is he bleeding? Will they bandage him up?

John hugs Dean.

Dean hugs him back. "We have to fly back to the bunker tonight. Come on."

They go inside and Dean holds John's hand as he talks to Sonny. "I have to fly back to Nebraska tonight. I'm taking John with me. Demons have Sammy."

"Oh no!" Sonny's shocked.

"It's worse. Demons are surrounding the house." Dean whispers, "They've threatened to harm the children 32 hours from now." He backs away. "They want a dagger that's hidden in my bunker. I have to find it and take it to them or they'll also hurt Sammy. They already shot him while I was on the phone."

"Bastards." Sonny pulls out his car keys from his pocket. "Get your bags and we'll hit the road."

Dean puts his hand on Sonny's shoulder. "They won't let anyone leave, but me and John."

Sonny takes a key off his key ring and tries handing it to Dean. "There's a green pickup parked next to the barn. It's fuelled up and ready to go. Park it in long term parking at the airport. I'll drive out with one of the volunteers to get it."

"Hang on."


	7. Sam's Capture and Torture

NOTE: This chapter explains things from Sam's perspective. What's going on where he is. This should help clear things up a bit. Don't hate me. I'm just the story teller. 😬

°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°○°

 

Sam is tied up in chains to a metal bed frame that's bolted to the floor. Hands and legs spread out to each bed post. He just woke up from a car crash. He remembers seeing a large pickup crash the light and hit him on his driver's side. He's lucky to be alive, but why is he tied up like this?

"Hello sleepy head. Did you miss me?" A man walks around the bed and touches Sam's face.

Sam moves his face from the stranger's touch. "Who are you and why am I here?" Sam pulls at his chains, but his left arm starts hurting intensely. He closes his eyes and bites back the pain.

"Yeah. I think that arm might be broken. That left leg has issues too. Hell, your whole left side is a mess really. Don't worry though. You'll get fixed up in no time. Just as soon as your big brother does as he's told." Ruby, in a man's body, smiles. "Oh I miss our good times together Sam. You me and my blood." Ruby licks her finger and places it in Sam's mouth.

Sam has this male demon licking his finger and putting it in his mouth. He didn't miss when he said that Sam drank his blood, but he can't think of who this is. That is until he starts playing with the demon knife.

"I missed this Sam. You stole it from me. Remember?" Her phone rings.

She answers and talks to someone and gives instructions. "Okay. Hold them, but don't hurt them. When Dean comes outside, you can release them. Got it?"

"What are you going to do to my brother you bitch!?!" Sam's furious.

Ruby laughs and laughs. "Oh Sam! You shouldn't worry about little ol' me. You should be more worried about what Azazel will do if he doesn't get what he wants." She pricks the tip of her index finger and smears the blood all over it. She forces the blood against Sam's nose. "Smell that? You want it, don't you? One drop's too much and a gallon's not enough." She wipes Sam's nose off and her finger. "No blood for you. That's too bad really." She takes hold of his flaccid genitals. Not too gently either. "You were such a good fuck when you were strung out."

Sam spits in her face.

She just licks it up and laughs as she puts a bandana gag on Sam. She then picks up Sam's cellphone and calls Dean.

Dean: "Sammy?"

Male Ruby: "Dean Winchester."

Dean: "Who the hell are you and where's my brother?"

Male Ruby: "Calm down. You're brother's still breathing. For now."

Dean: "I swear if you lay a hand.."

Male Ruby: "Yada yada yada. It's always the same with you Winchesters.

Ruby picks up a gun off the nightstand and shoots at the floor. _**BANG!**_ She hits Sam's broken arm with her hand at the same time.

Sam yells out in pain.

Dean: "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE DEAD!!

Male Ruby: "Temper temper Dean. He's fine. Next one goes into his right hand unless you pay close attention and do as I tell you. Are you listening?"

Dean: "I'm listening. Just don't hurt my brother."

Male Ruby: "Whether you realize it or not, Crowley hid a very important artifact in your bunker. Are you listening Dean?"

Dean: "Crowley left a very important artifact in my bunker."

Male Ruby: "Very good. This artifact is a black dagger. It's in an ivory box covered with Enochian markings. If you could read Enochian, it would warn you not to open the box. Touching the dagger will kill you. Did you get that?"

Dean: "I need to find a black dagger in an ivory box with Enochian writing on it that warns me not to touch the dagger or it will kill me."

She can hear Dean's anger in his voice

Male Ruby: "Excellent. Go outside Dean. Just you, all by yourself."

Dean: "Okay. I'm going outside."

Ruby hears Dean telling someone, probably Sonny, "I'm going out front. You and the kids stay inside. Okay?"

Ruby hears a male voice reply, "You got it."

Ruby can hear Dean's footsteps at first, then there's silence.

Male Ruby: "You outside yet, Winchester?"

Dean: "I'm outside."

Ruby hears children crying and footsteps. She knows the demons released the children.

Male Ruby: "You've got 24 hours or Sammy loses his hand. 32 hours we start on Sonny's place. One kid at a time."

Ruby can hear a boy softly crying.

Dean: "The boy and I will fly back to the bunker tonight to look for the dagger. Where do you want to meet after I find it to make the exchange. Sammy for the dagger."

Male Ruby: 170th and Hazelnut Road in Powhattan, Kansas. I'll text you the location. No one leaves the house except you and the boy you came with. Understand?"

Dean: "Yes."

Male Ruby: "See ya soon Dean."

Ruby ends the call. She knows all the demons will stay near the farm house to make sure Sonny and his boys won't try to flee.

Sam feels light headed and passes out.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sam opens his eyes and there's a black eyed man wrapping a bandage around his left ankle. He tries to move, but he can't.

"Immobility spell. Forgot I was a witch, huh?" Ruby grins as she eats her fries.

Sam didn't forget. He just doesn't care. He smells her food and his stomach growls. He's not wanting to eat because he knows he'll just get sick. What he's really craving is the demon bitch's blood. He can at least be honest with himself if no one else. This is what he gets for shooting God.

Touchè Chuck. Touchè.

The demon doc finishes with bandaging him up and leaves the room.

Sam closes his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He opens his eyes a little while later to find a yellow eyed demon in his face. So close he can smell the sulfur on his breath. "Hiya Sammy. Miss me? I missed you." He pats Sam's cheek.

Sam tries to pull away. "Don't touch me!"

"There's the spirit!" Azazel grins. "Your brother is making good time. He's at the bunker already looking for my blade. You boys tend to be obedient once properly motivated." He sits next to Sam on his bed. "It's too bad what happened to Lucifer. You would have looked good on him." Azazel licks his lips.

Sam refuses to make any eye contact.

"We're alone. Just between us. The whole time he had you, did the Morning Star ever let you orgasm? Even once?" He stands up and starts pacing. "No, don't tell me. I'm sure he destroyed you, but never once let you go over the edge. Not once let you find any comfort or release." He stops pacing. "I should just kill you and your brother for killing my Lord."

"Do it or shut up! What is it with you evil sonabitches liking to hear yourselves talk? Put up or shut up!" Sam's chest rises and falls quickly with his anger.

Azazel smiles. "You're absolutely right." He picks up Ruby's demon blade. "Thing is your brother still has time to bring me what I told him to find." He lifts Sam's right hand and carves into the back of it.

Sam bites his bottom lip to keep from making any sounds as pain surges from his hand up his arm.

"Actions can speak louder than words." He finishes and shows Sam what he carved. " _Dean's Bottom_ " He drops Sam's bleeding hand on the bed and calmly sets the blade on the nightstand.

Sam growls, "Fuck you."

Azazel is already at the door. He turns to Sam and gives him a wink. "At a boy Sammy. Let that anger burn you up. When Ruby returns, she'll just love licking your wounds for ya. If you're a good boy, _SHE_ might even let ya bottom." He raises his eyebrows, laughs and leaves.

Time passes.

Sam hates this. He keeps trying to move, but can't. There must be a hex bag under the bed or something. He closes his eyes and prays to Cas. _"I'm not sure if you can hear me Castiel. I'm being held captive by Ruby and Azazel. I don't know where I am exactly, but I need help. They crashed into the Impala and injured me pretty bad. They're tempting me with demon blood and torturing me because we killed Lucifer. I hope you can hear me Castiel."_ Sam keeps his eyes closed and lets himself fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Sam abruptly wakes up to being slapped in the face. He can't move as he looks up and sees Ruby standing over him. For some reason his clothes have been removed. He looks up at the demon who's holding the demon blade. "Don't do this."

Ruby is still in the body of a young man. He's probably in his mid-twenties. He has nice features including an athletic build with broad shoulders, a squared jaw line, full lips, wavy light brown hair that's been lightened by being out in the sun and stunning blue eyes. She gets undressed and straddles Sam's hips. Her dick is hard and Sam tries not to notice or react.

She moves her hands over Sam's chest. "Don't you want me?"

"No. Not in the slightest." He's repulsed by her.

She cuts a line across his chest. "I want you to bleed for me, the way I bled for you."

Sam refuses to acknowledge anything she's doing right now. He just closes his eyes as she cuts another mark into his chest. Tears slide down the sides of his eyes and into his ears. He feels her masculine lips on his, but he can't stop her from kissing him. He just doesn't kiss back. He tries to turn his head, but she won't let him.

She starts to choke him. He opens his eyes as he tries to breathe. He sees her jerking her own cock.

"Sam. This feels so good." She releases his throat and Sam gasps for breath. Her hands smear his blood over his chest from where she cut him. She moves her hand faster on her very hard cock. She enjoys torturing Sam by choking him and making him bleed. Touching her masculine chest and then his. "I'm going to cum. Sam!" She picks up Sam's hand and forced his hand to move up and down the length of her cock as she cums on Sam's bloody chest. The semen stings against the cuts she made.

Sam says nothing and does nothing because he knows any reaction, no matter if it's positive, negative or vomitous, will just give her even more satisfaction. It's what she wants.

Sam stunned when he suddenly sees her male body flash with the familiar orange light of demon death. She yells and falls on top of him dead with an angel blade in her back.

He can finally move his own body, but Azazel is standing there.

The prince of hell pulls the angel blade out of Ruby and has Ruby's demon blade too. "Don't get too excited there Sammy. Ruby here decided to do things her way instead of mine." Azazel rolls her off of Sam onto the floor. He snaps and a demon appears. "Clean up, aisle 666." The demon picks up Ruby's body and vanishes with her.

Azazel snaps again and Sam is cleaned up. No cuts on his chest. No cum. He has on the same clothes he had on before. His hand doesn't have the words on it anymore either. He still has wounds from the car accident. Sam figures it's to keep him from running. Very smart. He's definitely in no condition to flee.

Azazel snaps again and a food cart appears with all variety of food and beverages. "You should eat. It will help you heal."

"Why do you care all of a sudden?" Sam almost regrets asking.

"Even pitbull fighters feed and treat their prize animals." Azazel picks up a piece of cheese and nibbles on it then picks up a flute of champagne. He sips it. "You're a winner Sammy. Always have been. Your brother has 12 hours. I have faith in him. Just as I did your mother. God rest her." He takes another sip of champagne.

"You don't get to talk about her!" Sam glares at the demon.

"Ohhh. Sore subject." He puts his hand up. "My bad." He sets his glass down and then motions to the spread of food and drinks. "I'll leave you to it."

He walks toward the door. "Just so you don't over exert yourself, this room is in hell. You can't leave it, call anyone or do anything to contact the outside world. So, just relax. No one will bother you while you're in here. You need something, knock on the door and tell one of them. They will tell me. 12 hours or less you should be a free man or using your left hand for everything."

"Oh." He points to the bathroom. "The facilities work just as if you are in a real motel room. Shower and everything. There's no phone, of course." He takes hold of the doorknob. "Please don't try to leave. You'll only hurt yourself or Dean. Remember what happened to your mother when she refused to listen."

Sam throws a bottle of champagne at him. It shatters when it hits the door as the demon left the room before Sam could make contact.

Azazel has a shit eating grin on the other side of the door. 


	8. Protect Sonny's and Fly Home

Dean and John go upstairs to grab their bags. John uses the restroom really quick. Dean uses it right after. They come back down to the kitchen.

Dean pulls out his container of salt. He shows it to Sonny. "You got more of these?"

Sonny grins as he goes to his pantry and shows Dean 10 or more containers.

"Good! Let me show you what you need to do." Dean pours some along the window ledges and door entryways. "Every time a salt line is broken, fill it back in. The demons can't cross the salt line. You have any spray paint?"

Sonny shakes his head. "No. We get boys that abuse it."

"Understood. How about cans of paint?"

"In the barn. No! Wait!" Sonny goes into the laundry room and comes back with a small pint of paint and a brush. "I had to touch up a spot in one of the rooms."

Dean takes the paint. "Make sure all the curtains and blinds are closed."

The boys close all the blinds and curtains.

The paint is white. He finds some food coloring and puts a drop of red in the paint. It goes from white to pink. He looks to Sonny. "I'm sorry about this."

"We can fix it. You're saving us. Do your thing." Sonny gets it.

Dean is tall and has long arms. He wishes his brother was around. He has longer arms. He has the boys bring the kitchen table up to the front doorway. He has them place newspapers all over the table. He stands on the table and carefully draws a devils trap on the ceiling above the entryway trying not to drip paint everywhere. Boys stood by with wet throw away towels, just in case. He does the same thing above the back door. He also draws them on the wooden floor underneath the floor mats at both doorways.

"If they get in, they might catch the ones under the mat and scratch the paint thinking their safe to enter. The ones on the ceiling will trap them. If they have guns, they'll try to shoot the ceiling. All of this will take time. Time you have to try and escape or fight. Do any of your kids have cell phones?"

Sonny calls Tim and Ed over. "Let me borrow your phones." The boys pull out their cell phones.

Dean says, "Stay here and listen." He explains that the bad guys that grabbed the kids in the barn might return. If they get in the house, all three of them need to play the recording Dean will put on their phone as loud as they can play it. Put their phones in different hidden spots in the house, but make sure the volume is loud and can be heard. Play it on repeat. He records the exorcism on each phone, labeling the recording as "PLAY ME LOUD".

Dean tells Sonny what the recording is. He tells him it would be a good idea for him to memorize it. He writes it out for him.

"Sonny, it's almost impossible to kill a demon. Stabbing or shooting them does nothing. Beheading and setting them on fire is all that works. Exorcism makes them leave the human they possess. The human they leave behind might die right away. They are brutal with the bodies they inhabit." He pulls out an anti-possession charm necklace. "Wear this. Use a marker and draw it on the kid's arms where it won't wash off easily. It keeps the demons from possessing you."

Dean gathers John and their bags. "I'll call you when and if this gets serious. I'm going to do everything on my end to solve it in 24 hours."

He reaches into his duffle and gives Sonny $300 in cash.

Sonny tries giving it back. Dean refuses to take it back. "Its for the gas in your car and the truck. Salt. Paint to paint over my artwork. Also parking the truck at the airport. You keep it."

Sonny puts the money in his pocket. "So, you're keeping John?" He smiles at the boy.

Dean has him hugged up around his waist. "Yeah. He reminds me a lot of myself and my little brother." Dean shakes his head. "I gotta go."

Sonny hands him the truck key.

Dean takes the truck key from Sonny. "Thanks. I'll call you and let you know where it's parked. I'll leave the parking ticket and key under the passenger seat."

"Okay." They hug goodbye.

John shakes Sonny's hand. "Thank you for having me over."

"It was nice having you over. Hope to see you again when things are much better." He pats John's shoulder. "You be good for Dean."

"I will." He grins. He's happy he's leaving with Dean, but sad because he knows Dean's sad and angry about what's happening.

They walk out the front door. Dean tells Sonny, "Don't let the kids outside until I give you the all clear. I'll call you with updates. Oh, and re-salt this door." He grins.

"No problem. Good seeing you D Dawg. Drive safe." Sonny waves as Dean and John head for the barn area to find the green pickup.

"Will do. See ya!" Dean sees the truck and they quickly get inside, placing their bags in the passenger side floorboard.

"Stay put." He jumps out and throws up in a bush. His stomach purging the dinner he had not too long ago. He gets back into the truck.

"I did that earlier." John hands him a bottle of water from his duffle.

"Thanks." Dean rinses and spits it out. They both buckle up. Dean puts a piece of gum in his mouth.

The truck is an 80's model Chevy Silverado with a V8. Dean could tell as soon as he cranked the engine. "Love the sound of a classic." He pats the dash. "Alright girl. Sonny didn't tell me your name, all I ask is that you be good to me." He puts her in drive and takes off for the airport. He can see people standing around in the dark. He distracts John. "Hey kid. Why don't you give her a name?"

"Me?" John's eyes are big as he looks at Dean.

"Sure. Her outside is a metallic pine green color. Her inside is tan. She's a work truck. She's not pretty because she's been beat up a bit on the outside. We'll hope she's loyal and always there when you need her." Dean grins.

John thinks a minute. "Tiana."

Dean looks at John for a second. The boy's tearing up. "Isn't that your mom's name?"

He nods. "She had green eyes. She wasn't that pretty, but her heart was. Dad beat her up some times when he was drunk. She was always there when I needed her." John wipes at his face and smiles.

"Tiana it is." He rubs the dash and finds a radio station with soft rock.

John snuggles up to the passenger side door and closes his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Before going into the airport to park the truck, he stops in a deserted area along the highway. Dean keeps the truck running while John sleeps quietly. He reaches into his duffle and quickly drinks the two tiny bottles of Jack Daniels he didn't have on the flight to New York. He's not throwing away good whiskey or giving it to TSA agents. He tosses the empties and the piece of gum he was chewing into an empty plastic sack that he'll trash later. He washes down the whiskey with some of the bottled water he had earlier, then chews a fresh piece of gum.

The whiskey rolls around in his gut like hot lava, but he welcomes the burn. Takes his mind off of what his brother might be going through.

He rolls down the window and opens the plastic bottle with the rosary in it. He carefully removes the rosary and drains the water. He wraps the rosary in one of his t-shirts, puts the lid back on the empty bottle and puts it back in his duffle.

He checks John's backpack for liquid containers. He has none. Dean does find a Polaroid picture of him and John playing with the soaker guns at Sonny's. Sonny or one of the volunteers must have taken it and given it to John. Dean smiles as he puts it back in the kid's bag.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Luckily, Dean had enough money to buy tickets using the same credit card as before. The flight won't leave for another two and a half hours.

They sit near a cell phone charging station. Dean plugs his phone in to charge.

John leans against him and rests. Dean moves his hand soothingly over the boy's arm. He picks up his phone and calls Cas while his phone's charging.

Cas: "Hello Dean."

Dean: "Hey Cas. I need you to do something for me."

Cas: "Is something wrong?"

Dean looks around to make sure no one's listening to what he's saying.

Dean: "Demons have Sammy. They've already shot him. I'm not sure how badly he's wounded. I have less than 22 hours to get something Crowley hid in the bunker to these demons or they'll shoot off Sam's hand. They said after 32 hours they'll start going after the children at Sonny's farm. They're looking for a black dagger that's kept in an ivory box warded with Enochian words stating any human touching the blade will die."

Cas: "Sounds like the Blade of Nightmares."

Dean: "Care to elaborate?"

Cas: "It can only be used by a powerful being like an archangel, a knight of hell, a prince of hell, one of the 4 horsemen, Death, Amara, Chuck..."

Dean: "Okay, but what does the dagger do?"

Dean's patience with Cas has become a learned skill he takes pride in.

Cas: "Once plunged into the Earth, by a powerful being, it creates a portal between purgatory and our world. The tear through which you escaped purgatory was a remnant of what the dagger did the last time it was used."

Dean thinks on this a moment.

Dean: "There's no one powerful enough on Earth to use it. Except Chuck, Amara or Billie."

Cas: "Dean, Chuck brought back a lot of the monsters you once destroyed. It's safe to assume there might be a knight of hell or even a prince of hell that was resurrected."

Dean: "You know Cas, you really know how to cheer a guy up."

Cas: "I wasn't tying to... Oh. Never mind. I understand."

Seems Cas is finally starting to understand Dean's dry humor and cynical sarcasm. It only took a decade. Dean rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Dean: "Sorry. I'm not in a good head space right now and I need to be. I have a long ride in an airplane and a boy to look after."

Cas: "My wings are healed."

Dean: "WHAT?!"

Dean's outburst startled John and had people turning to look at him. He lifted his hand. "Sorry." He looks at John. "Sorry."

John is worried. Dean hugs him. "It's okay."

Cas: "Dean?"

Dean: "You're 100%? How?"

Cas: "I'm not sure. I think it has something to do with armageddon. Right before every major angelic battle, warrior angels are healed. It has to do with celestial rules of warfare. This way no one is at a disadvantage."

Dean: "You think this dagger, armageddon and angels being healed are all tied together?"

Cas: "Yes. This battle isn't going to be archangels fighting each other, like before. This is going to be all of heaven verses all of hell. The winner has power over heaven, hell and Earth. Everything because there's no God."

Dean: "Demons want to open up purgatory to try to gain an upper hand."

Dean laughs.

Dean: "If they're thinking the leviathan will join them, they need to think again. Those guys will try to beat out both angels and demons for the whole enchilada. I'm not talking about Mexican food either, Cas."

Dean shakes his head.

Cas: "I think I understand that metaphor. Do you want me to come get you."

Dean: "You can't just show up..."

Cas is suddenly walking toward him and John from the men's restroom. "Hello Dean." He smiles at John. "Hello John."

John's eyes get big. "How did you do that?!"

"Shhhh!" Dean puts his phone away and laughs as he pulls Cas's arm and gets him to sit down next to them. "We can't keep drawing attention to ourselves."

John nods that he understands as he stares at Cas. He can't believe he's an angel. He must be. Dean said he was.

Dean whispers to Cas, "Is your mojo 100%? I mean can you take us both back to the bunker?" Dean hates flying by angel, but he hates airplanes worse. He also needs more time to find that blade and save his brother.

"I'm 100%. We can go whenever you're ready." Cas is thinking about taking them from right where they are.

Dean quickly stops Cas. "No. We'll go to another gate and into the men's room. There's no cameras in there." He unplugs his cell phone and they gather their bags.

Once in the men's room there's one man washing his hands. John uses the bathroom stall. Dean uses a urinal. Cas washes his hands.

Everyone quickly finishes and washes their hands before someone else enters. Cas places his hands on each of their shoulders and they vanish. 


	9. The Blade of Nightmares

Dean, Cas and John arrive at the bunker and stumble onto the war room floor. Cas is a bit winded, but he's okay.

John is a bit dizzy. He grabs his stomach.

Dean sees John's going to be sick and quickly places a waste paper basket under him. As he pukes into it, Dean rubs his back. "Angel flying sucks. I know."

John sits back after his stomach calms down. He looks up at Cas. His face still flush, but a big smile nonetheless. "That was cool!"

Cas smiles back. He snaps and the vomit in the basket vanishes along with the odor, to everyone's relief.

Dean helps John stand up, then quickly runs to his room to grab his laptop computer. He gets into the program that can trace Sam's cell phone GPS. After a minute the system shows an error. Unable to locate. "Damn!" He looks over at John, "Sorry." He explains, "I can't locate Sammy through his cell phone GPS. They're blocking it or he's someplace the GPS can't find him." Dean closes his computer.

John keeps looking at Cas strangely.

Cas asks him, "Is there something wrong?"

John asks Cas the same question every human asks when they first see an angel. "Do you have wings and a halo?"

Cas has a slight grin. He's usually so serious. "I have wings. The halo is just an artist's depiction of our grace."

"Grace?" John tilts his head in confusion.

Cas nods. "Don't be afraid." His whole body glows and his wings open up. His eyes glow pale blue.

John's eyes get big. His hands cover his mouth. "WOW!! You're more awesome than I thought. Your wings are HUGE."

Dean smiles. The experience he had as Michael's vessel kind of soured moments like this for himself. He does notice something different about his friend, however. "Your wings look bigger than I remember. It can't be just because they're healed. Did you get an upgrade?"

"No. I'm still a seraphim." His wings fold away and his grace fades. His eyes return to their normal color. "You might have just forgotten how big they use to be. With lack of use they did atrophy. I lost a lot of feathers as well."

"That's probably it." He pats Cas's shoulder. He then returns his attention to John. "We're going to look for a very important box."

Dean, Cas and John start in the dungeon storage area looking through boxes for this boxed up dagger. Crowley hid it in the bunker somewhere. So, odds are he hid it here.

Dean instructs John not to open ANY box of any color that has weird symbols on it. He could die. John knows Dean isn't lying to him and he doesn't want to die. He is very carefully looking through crates and cardboard file boxes for any white box with weird symbols on it.

Cas goes into the file cabinet room and looks through drawer after drawer.

After a couple hours of searching, Dean takes John into the kitchen. He makes them some waffles, bacon and orange juice. He looks in the cabinets and throughout the kitchen while he's in there. He even checks the fridge and freezer.

After they eat, they finish looking in the dungeon files and determine it's not in the dungeon. They've been searching for 6 hours straight. John needs his rest.

Dean takes John to the bed he slept in before. He's so tired, he almost goes to sleep before hitting the pillow. Dean tucks him in and leaves the door ajar.

He goes into the library and starts looking through the book shelves. While looking in the library, he researches "Blade of Nightmares". There are several books on the subject. All of them plainly state that a normal human isn't able to even look upon it without risk of losing their vision. It's a powerful weapon made by the Greek god Hades and given to his wife Persephone as a gift. It was intended as a way for her to gain entrance into Tartarus (hell) when Zues had forbidden their relationship. Once the couple married and no longer needed the blade, Persephone gifted it to Athena. Athena used it to open purgatory.

According to one book, Athena freed the alpha vampire and those he sired. Legend has it that the first vampire ever was a descendant of the goddess Athena. This is why she freed him, when at that time all vampires had been eliminated from off the face of the Earth by her father Zues.

Another book told the same story, but with a different pantheon of gods. It goes on to say the archangel Raphael hid the blade to prevent the leviathan from ever entering the world ever again.

A bit a guilt hits Dean as he always goes back to the crossroads deal he made to save Sam that started all of this. Cas wouldn't have went to hell to save him. They would never have met. No Sam in the cage. No Cas and Crowley draining purgatory for souls. No leviathan on Earth again. No visit to purgatory for him and Cas. Dean puts the books back and clears his thoughts of self damnation.

Although the books were interesting, they didn't help him find the blade.

It's been 9 hours that he and Cas have been searching everywhere for this blade. Dean shouts out loud, "What if Crowley didn't hide the damn thing here!"

Cas says nothing.

They keep looking.

Dean's in Sam's room going through boxes. He tosses the last box he looked through and heads for the library to fix himself a drink. He's so tired and his back aches from picking up boxes.

He picks up the whiskey decanter and it's empty. "Damn it!" He squats down and looks to see if there's another bottle on the cart and he sees something. "No way! You gotta be shitting me?!"

He stands up, covers his eyes and takes a deep breath. He squats back down and looks again. "You know what, fuck you Crowley! You sneaky sonofabitch!" He reaches behind the bottles of gin and vodka that nobody drinks and sure enough, there it it!

"CAS!!"

Dean carefully pulls it out and sets it on the table. He also grabs the two bottles of Glencraig the jackass must of hid back there with it. There's a note on one of the bottles:

_"Boys,_

_Sorry about using your_  
_place as a WMD depository._  
_DON'T open the box._  
_DO open the bottle._  
_Consider it a departing gift._

_~ C."_

Dean looks at the bottle. It reads _"Connoisseurs Choice"_ and has the date 1975 on it. The other bottle is dated 1968. He opens the 1975 and pours a small amount in his glass.

Cas walks in and sees the white box on the table with the Glencraig whiskey bottles and realizes Crowley hid it with the liquor on the cart. "Figures he'd hide it there."

Dean swallows down the amber liquid. "Why didn't we look there first?" Dean puts the empty glass down. "WMD. Weapon of Mass Destruction. He was well aware of what he was hiding."

Cas looks at the box and reads the Enochian inscription on it. "According to the sigils and writing on the box, this is the Blade of Nightmares."

"Maybe you should make sure the blade's inside?" Dean pours a little bit more scotch whiskey into his glass to sip on. "Can **you** even _look_ at it?" He lifts his glass and points at Cas as he asks the question.

"I can _look_. I can't touch." He picks up the box. "You should look away." Dean turns away as Cas looks inside the box and then quickly closes it. "The blade's inside."

Dean looks at Cas and his eyes are completely white. "Your eyes... Are you able to see?"

"Yes. My eyes will return to normal very quickly." Just as he was saying that his eyes started returning to normal.

"Were you blind?"

"No. I could still see, but it was uncomfortable. This blade is very powerful and extremely dangerous. It could quickly kill a human."

Dean is thinking about John. He looks at his watch. "It's been almost 12 hours since the demon called me. We need to decide how we're going to handle this. We give this to the demons, they will most likely use it to open purgatory.

"Dean, have a seat." Cas pulls out a chair for Dean. Dean sits down. Cas sit in a chair facing him. "I have an idea. We can go back in time, now that I'm at full strength. Back to before you said yes to Michael. We can kill Lucifer before he steals Jack's grace."

"How about you **DON'T** do that." Billie is suddenly standing between Cas and Dean.

The men quickly stand up.

Billie holds up her hands and then folds her arms. "Look. I try not to interfere, but the Big Man tapped out. Someone has to play referee or the whole universe will blow up."

"Remember what you did with all those souls in purgatory?" Billie asks Cas.

Cas looks down. His face can't hide his shame. "I was wrong, but yes I remember."

Billie hands Cas a stone that looks just like the one Dean and Rowena used to gather souls for the "soul bomb" to kill Amara. "Find Rowena. She should be at a casino somewhere. Use this spell." She hands him a piece of parchment. "It will get the souls out of purgatory and into you. Then Rowena will immediately reroute the souls from you into that stone."

Cas comments, "In order for me to do the spell before, there were particular conditions that were necessary that night."

Billie nods. "I understand. Those conditions won't be necessary to do this spell. Just give this spell to Rowena and it will work."

Dean asks, "How long will the stone hold the souls?"

"Indefinitely, if you give me the stone within one hour of emptying purgatory. One minute longer and the stone will be weakened too much. It won't be able to permanent house the souls inside it. If you're too late, the stone will release the souls within 12 hours from the moment they are placed inside." She looks at the men. "With the monsters locked away within that stone, heaven has a fighting chance against hell and humanity might survive. That Blade of Nightmares will be useless because nothing will emerge from purgatory."

Billie looks at Dean with a bit of concern. "Your brother is one hell of a fighter. He's holding his own against Azazel."

"AZAZEL!?!" Dean turns away and moves his hands over his face and hair. He can't believe his little brother is being tortured again by Yellow Eyes. Of all the evil sonsofbitches out there, why him?!

Billie admonishes Dean, "Calm down Dean. Your scaring your little boy."

Deans eyes jump from Death to the hallway where John is standing and watching.

"John." He runs to the boy and picks him up. "You okay?"

John rubs his eyes. "I heard you yelling."

Dean sits him down on the library table. He move his hair from his face. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about my brother."

John reaches out and hugs Dean. "You'll save him. Just like you saved me."

Billie smiles. "Smart kid." She turns to Cas. "Do you need help finding Red?"

"Rowena? No. I've got a good idea where she is. She tends to travel to Monte Carlo this time of year. Her style of hunting wealthy men is something I've found quite distasteful yet amusing."

"I'll leave you to it then. Just call my name once you have the stone ready. Don't wait too long."

"Understood."

Billie vanishes.

John sees the lady in black disappear. "Who was she?"

Dean looks up and sees that Billie's gone. "She's a higher ranking angel. She's helping us save my brother."

"I wish there was something I could do to help."

Dean hugs the boy. "You're helping me more than you realize kid."

Cas approaches Dean. "I'm going to Monte Carlo to find Rowena. I have a good idea where she's at. I'll bring her back here as quickly as I can." He gives Dean the soul stone for safe keeping. "Do you want me to place _that_ someplace safe?" Cas is referring to the Blade of Nightmares.

"Yes. Just don't remove it from the bunker."

"I understand." Cas picks up the box and vanishes. He returns less than a minute later. "It's out of human reach, but still within the bunker walls. I'll return as quickly as I can."

"Thanks Cas."

He vanishes.

Dean smiles at John. "You should take a shower."


	10. Purgatory Purged

Dean and John are sitting at the kitchen table eating grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup and celery with peanut butter. (The celery was John's idea.)

Dean's listening to John talk about what his life was like with his mom and dad. He had private music lessons and riding lessons. He went swimming in a large, heated, indoor pool. He had his own nanny until he was 8 years old. When he turned 9, his mom sent him to a preparatory school. He learned a lot about proper etiquette and the correct way to do or say things. He tells Dean how much he hated it. He wanted to play baseball and get dirty. Go fishing and put worms on fishing hooks. Stuff he could only read about other boys doing.

"Once we get my brother back, I'm going to take you fishing." Dean smiles.

"Really?" John smiles.

"Really. There's a great place not far from here. You might like it as much as I do." Dean is about to put their dishes in the sink when his phone rings. He sets the dishes down. It's Sam's phone number.

Dean: "Hello."

Sam: "Dean."

Dean: "Sammy!"

Dean has to sit down. He's relieved at just hearing his brother's voice.

Dean: "Are you okay? How bad are you hurt?"

Sam: "I'll be alright. Did you find what he's wanting yet?"

Dean: "We're searching high and low Sammy. We'll find it. I promise. Crowley hid it well."

Sam: "Just wanted you to know I'm okay."

Dean can tell by Sam's voice that he's pretty far from okay.

Dean: "You hang in there. I'm going to get you out of this. You hear me?"

Azazel: "Less than 10 hours Dean. That's all you have left. That's all Sammy has left. He'll not only lose the use of his right hand. He'll lose his freedom. His current address is hell and that will be his permanent address. You understand me?"

Dean: "Look you yellow eyed bastard. You'll get your freaking blade. Just make sure you show up in Powhattan with Sammy in 9 hours and 48 minutes from now, and he better be in one piece. So help me, if Sammy is shot up, missing anything or altered in any way when I see him again..."

Dean takes a deep breath and calms himself.

Dean: "Find Alastair, if he's alive. Go ask him what I'll become. What I'm capable of."

Dean ends the call.

"Who's Alastair?" John's very curious.

Dean sets his phone down and places his hands on John's face. He notices his hands are slightly trembling with the anger he's keeping under control. (If it weren't for John, Dean would be in full fury mode right now.) "There are some things I can't discuss with you until you get older. Just know that, like Sammy, I'd give my life to save yours."

John stays in his room with a book (One of Sam's Harry Potter Books) long enough for Dean to take a fast shower.

Cas returns to the bunker with Rowena at close to 2pm.

Dean needs to be at Powhattan no later than 8pm Central time. Dean got the original phone call at Sonny's at 9pm Eastern time giving him 24 hours to find and deliver the Blade of Nightmares. So, time runs out at 8pm Central time. They have 6 hours.

Rowena smiles when she sees John. "Whom does this wee one belong to?"

John wraps his arms around Dean. He's so afraid of anyone taking him away from his new home.

Dean rubs his back. "John, I'd like you to meet Rowena MacLeod. The greatest witch to ever exist."

She blushes with pride as she touches her red locks of hair. "Well."

"SHE'S A WITCH?!" John can't believe it. "Where's your pointy hat and long robes?" He's got Hogwarts running through his mind. He thinks she should look like Professor McGonagall.

Rowena squints her eyes.

Dean smiles as he pushes John behind him. "He's just a child."

"So was Fergus once." She starts taking things from her handbag. "Discipline Dean. Mark my words. You wait too long..." She stops what she's doing and looks at Dean as he protects the lad. "...and before you know it, you're son's the king of hell."

John's eyes get big as he stays hidden behind Dean.

Dean turns to the boy. "We're going to be busy doing something that's very important and requires concentration. You want to play video games?"

He just nods.

Dean excuses himself. He stops in the kitchen and grabs a bag of chips, can of Coke and 3 bottles of water as he takes John to the man cave to play on the Playstation. He doesn't see anything in the man cave John can hurt himself on. There's no liquor or beer in the mini-bar. No weapons including guns, knives, swords or unconventional weapons. All that's in the room is the recliners, the TV, the game consoles with games, the foosball table, the unplugged jukebox and his stacks of vinyl albums. Dean locked up the video games that John can't play with and all the DVD movies in a metal locker that needs a key to open.

John gets settled in and Dean knows he'll be entertained for hours playing games. "Don't spill anything. Okay?"

"I'll be careful and I won't get anything near the console."

Dean smiles. "Have fun. I'm right out there if you need me."

John's already in video game mode as Dean walks out leaving the door ajar.

Dean returns to the library to find that Rowena and Cas have moved everything into the kitchen. When Dean walks into the kitchen he finds Rowena brewing something on the stove that smells horrible. "What is that?!" He quickly turns on the vent above the stove.

Rowena turns it off just as fast. "You want to announce to *them* what we're doing?"

Dean rolls his eyes.

Rowena pulls out her personal knife. "I need your blood."

"What?" Dean puts his hands behind his back.

She points to the parchment spell. "The blood of a person who's been in purgatory." She then points at Dean. "I've never been. Cupid's blood won't work because he's not human."

"I'm a seraphim." Cas corrects her.

"FINE!" He gives her his left hand. "Just get this over with so we can go get Sam!" Dean's getting anxious.

She holds Dean's hand. "Stand still. Wouldn't want to cut open an artery." She smirks as she pricks Dean's finger and lets a drop of his blood fall into the bottom of a metal bowl. She lets his hand go and quickly adds 4 dry ingredients.

Dean quickly runs his finger under the faucet.

She pulls the brew off the stove and pours it into the bowl with the drop of Dean's blood and other ingredients. The bowl starts to glow an eerie green with a yellow mist floating above it.

She takes the bowl to the kitchen floor. "Okay." She starts drawing a sigil on the floor. "Castiel, when this portal opens, souls will start pouring out and rush into your body. Take your shirt off."

Cas quickly removes his layers of clothing till he's standing there without his trenchcoat, suitcoat or tie. his dress shirt is untucked and unbuttoned all the way.

As soon as she finishes the sigil it starts smoking and the floor starts cracking. She jumps up and draws a mark on Cas's chest with the same potion. She finishes her art work by drawing a mark on Cas's forehead.

She kneels over the mark on the floor. Her eyes glow lavender as she says something in a long dead language.

The floor opens up only 12 inches across. It starts to get windy. A yellow glow starts to rise from the crack in the floor. Rowena yells something as she throws her hands toward Cas. A beam of bright light exits the floor and goes right into Cas.

As Dean watches, he sees Cas's wings open and his body glow as his grace fights to hold the souls being channelled inside him. His being glows from blue to bright yellow and once the flow of souls finally stops, Cas is glowing a bright white.

The floor in the kitchen magically closes itself back up as soon as all the souls are emptied. It's as if Rowena never even wrote on the floor.

Dean hands the soul stone carefully to Rowena.

She places it on the kitchen counter in front of Cas. Her eyes glow lavender once more as she says another incantation. The soul stone starts to glow.

"Castiel. Repeat after me." She says some words in Enochian and Cas repeats them. Immediately the souls exit Cas and enter the soul stone.

Once the stream of souls stop, Rowena says one last thing and Cas's eyes glow blue. She waves her hands over his body. Five flickers of light exit Cas one at a time and make their way to the stone.

Both Cas and Rowena collapse from exhaustion.

Dean gets a bottled water for Rowena. He goes back into the kitchen and gets a warm washcloth for Cas to clean up with.

Cas grins. "Thank you Dean." He sits up. He's a bit dizzy, but okay. He places the warm cloth on Rowena's neck.

She smiles. "That feels lovely. Thank you."

Cas snaps his fingers and he's cleaned up. He's fully clothed as well.

Dean asks Cas, "Are you sure all the souls are out of you?"

Rowena answers for him. "Those last five flickers of light were souls trying to hold out. I made sure we got them all."

Cas closes his eyes. "Billie. We have the stone."

She appears beside Cas. "Do you mind if I double check for hitchhikers?"

Cas spreads open his arms. Billie just touches his shoulder for a brief moment. Cas passes out. She snaps and he comes to before he hits the floor. "You're good. There's no souls in you."

Billie carefully picks up the soul stone.

Dean asks, "Won't purgatory keep filling up with new souls?"

She has the stone carefully stowed away. "No. Unless the Big Guy decides to return and fix it, purgatory no longer exists. Monsters that die will now go to the Empty."

"Won't that piss off the Shadow?"

She smiles at Dean. "We can only hope. The only beings strong enough to make a dent in Chuck's paradigm are nephilims, Amara and the Shadow." She grins. "For a time I thought you Winchesters were strong enough. No humans have ever captured Chuck's attention the way you and your brother have."

"The Death before you, he told me that one day, he would reap God." Dean won't ever forget that.

"Oh he did?" She shrugs. "You never know. Unlike him, I try not to talk too much about things like that. Talk like that can get you dead."

Dean gets it. Death was the one that died. Not Chuck, but Chuck's days are numbered.

"I'm going to take care of this." She looks at Dean. "You take care of that boy of yours."

Dean looks at Death trying to read her face. "You knew. About Jack killing Michael, Jack's death, me finding John...all of it. All this time."

"Dean, there's a lot I know." She smirks as she disappears.

Rowena comments, "Doesn't that just get your goat? Someone knows your future, but they won't clue you in!" Rowena looks just as flustered as Dean over how mysterious Billie can be. She's got her things packed up. She's about to take the parchment with the spell when it just vanishes. "Bullocks."

Dean smiles. "Doesn't that just get your goat?"

She points at him. "Shut it!" She looks at Cas. "Would you please return me to my spa resort?"

Dean quickly steps toward her. "I have a request. I'll barter with you.

Her eyes roll. "You already owe me for this lovely evening and _soooo_ much more."

"Never mind. Bad idea." Dean steps away.

Rowena looks at Dean. "What's a bad idea?"

A small voice is heard from behind Rowena. "D-dean?"

Dean quickly goes to John. "Yeah, what's up kid?"

"Um. I c-can't get the game to work. I hope it's not broken." He looks so guilty.

Dean looks toward Cas and Rowena. "Hurry back Cas. I need to go get Sammy." Dean's face when he mentions his brother shows obvious pain. He goes to help John with the video game.

Rowena looks at Castiel as she drops her bag on the kitchen table. "Bollocks."


	11. What? Really? How?

Dean is with John in the man cave. He fixed the game console problem. They're playing a game when Cas and Rowena enter the room.

Dean leaves John to keep playing and goes into the kitchen with Cas and Rowena. "Why haven't you left yet?"

Rowena sighs. "I'll watch the boy for you while you go save Samuel." She has a genuine look of concern on her face. "Castiel told me everything just a minute ago. I had no idea he was shot and being held captive by a prince of hell. I only wish there was something more I could do." She's wringing her hands as if her own son is the one being held captive.

Dean finds her behavior fascinating. Is she faking this in order to have access to the bunker's library or worse? Maybe she's out to kidnap John. Dean has to have John's safety as his number one priority. That's when an idea comes to him. He looks at his watch. It's a two and a half hour drive to Powhattan. "I have a better idea. Let's all go. We'll take Cas's extended cab truck. Cas, you and John can ride in the back seat."

~~~~~

Within less than 30 minutes they're packed and ready to go.

Dean placed the Blade of Nightmares in a metal box that has a lock. He locked it up and put the key on his keyring. This way the box won't come open by accident during transit.

He and Cas have angel blades. Dean filled 2 soaker guns with holy water. He also has his duffle full of shot guns and rock salt shells.

Dean loaded his gun with angel blade bullets that he carved devil's traps into. He was bored one night and made a couple boxes of these bullets.

The weapons duffle he places in the passenger's side floorboard at Rowena's feet. The box with the Blade of Nightmares he fits into the middle console. The soaker guns he has Cas prop up in the back seat with him and John. Those are weapons he trusts John with using to protect himself.

It's 5:03pm when Dean calls Sam's phone. He's not even sure anyone will answer.

Sam: "Dean?"

Dean: "Yeah. You okay? You sound terrible."

Sam tries to talk a bit louder. Make himself seem stronger than he really is.

Sam: "I'm fine. Did you find it?"

Dean: "We did. We're on our way to the meeting point. We'll be there in about two and a half hours."

Sam: "Remember, just you and John. You bring Cas and he'll do to me what he did to mom and Jess."

[ _Silence_ ]

Sam: "Dean?"

Dean: "I'm here Sammy. Don't you worry. I'm bringing you home. You hear me?"

Sam: "See you soon."

Sam ends the call. Dean puts his phone away. His heart is aching for his brother. He misses him badly.

John reaches his small hand up from behind Dean's seat as Dean starts the truck. He touches Dean's arm.

Dean turns and looks at him.

John sees the unshead tears in his eyes. "He'll be okay."

Dean places his hand on John's. "We all will. You buckled up?"

"Yes sir." He sits back.

Rowena smiles. "Such a polite young lad. Just don't go believin' everything you read." She holds up her left hand and waves her right hand over her left. The Harry Potter book he's been reading appears in her left hand out of thin air. She passes the book back to him. "Thought it might help pass the time."

His eyes are wide with amazement. "How did you do that?" He takes the book from her and looks at it. It's Sam's book. Has his name on the back page.

"It's _real_ magic." She winks.

Dean has to tell John the truth. "John, _real_ magic comes at a cost. The more you use it, the more you end up paying. Not with money. You end up losing things. Sometimes it's just friends. Other times you lose things you hold dear. You might lose your home or your family. Some people get so consumed by what magic can do that they lose their soul. I would never assume to know what all Rowena has lost to become the greatest witch there ever was. She's done a lot of good as of late to help a lot of people. I'm just letting you know that Harry Potter is a wonderful fantasy world to read about. Rowena, if she's honest, might tell you that becoming a witch wasn't as glamorous as books make it out to be."

Rowena is a bit misty eyed. "He's right. You should listen to your father child."

Dean looks at Rowena. "I'm not his dad."

"Yes, my dear boy. You most certainly are." She uses a handkerchief from her bag to blot the tears from her eyes.

John overhears their conversation and feels the heaviness in his chest lighten a bit. Even Rowena sees Dean as being a dad toward him. He can't help but smile.

Cas also agrees with Rowena, but won't say anything.

~~~~~

A few miles from their destination there's a town called Fairview. Dean pulls over at a coffee shop and drops off Cas and Rowena.

He tells Cas he will pray to him once he has Sam and is a mile or so away from the meeting location. Cas can bring Rowena with him to the truck and then take Sam to the bunker to be healed. This is what he has planned, anyway.

Dean has John buckled into the front seat beside him. Soaker guns are still full of water. (Luckily they aren't leaking.) Dean props them up in the front floorboard at John's feet.

He arrives at 170th and Hazelnut Road in Powhattan at 7:48pm. It's almost dark outside. There's nothing around them. The place is a Native American Reservation. The Kickapoo Nation to be exact. Dean thinks this is why the demons chose this location. They might have plans to open up purgatory right here.

Almost 8pm on the dot, demons appear. There's also a cargo van with a flat bed trailer behind it. It has a wrecked vehicle on it. Dean suddenly realizes what that vehicle is. "NO, NO, NO! Not my car!!"

John is afraid.

Dean points at John. "You stay put!"

John nods.

Dean exits the pickup and runs toward the trailer and looks at his car. It's totalled. "Damn it!" He shakes his head.

Azazel suddenly appears beside Dean. He laughs, "Good times, huh?"

Dean sees Yellow Eyes and backs away from him. It's all he can do not to pull his gun and shoot.

"Oh I get it. It's like _"You should be dead! I killed you!"_ And you're right. You're absolutely right, but your God has a sick sense of humor."

"You don't say." Dean's not smiling or laughing. "Where's my brother?"

"Where's my blade?" Azazel has his hand out.

Dean goes back to the truck and gets it from the console. He uses the key from his keyring to unlock the metal box. He gently pulls out the white box.

"Is that the bad guy that hurt your brother?" John looks scared.

Dean places his hand on John's. "I won't let anything happen to you. Just stay here."

Dean carries the white box in his hands as he walks up to Azazel. "Where's my brother?"

Two demons go toward the van and open the back doors. They back away. Dean looks inside from a distance. Sam's lying down inside. "Sam!"

Sam sits up a bit on one elbow. He's clearly in pain. "Dean!"

"Hang on Sammy! Just relax!" Dean has murder in his eyes as he looks at the demons around him.

Azazel steps up to Dean. "Just give me the box and we'll all be on our way."

Dean is about to hand Azazel the box when he's suddenly looking like he can't breathe.

The prince of hell holds his throat and his eyes are glowing orange along with his face. He falls to his knees. "S-stop-p-p."

Dean's eyes are big as he finally realizes what's going on. He turns to see John standing outside the truck. His hand raised and his eyes glow a fiery yellow gold color. Just like Jack's. Two demons attempt to go after John, but fall dead and smoulder as they tried to approach him. When other demons see what John's doing, they smoke out and their meat suits fall dead.

Dean runs to his brother. "Sammy!"

Dean helps Sam sit up and they watch what's going on.

John stands over Azazel. "You are pure evil. It radiates off of you like a foul odor. I've been told by my father what you've done to Sam, his girlfriend, his mother and his whole family. No more. I'm here to right what my grandfather set wrong starting with YOU."

Azazel's head tilts back and his body turns bright orange as John kills the yellow eyed demon. Azazel's body falls lifeless to the ground with a scorched mark left on the ground beneath him.

After witnessing Azazel's death, Sam falls back exhausted against Dean's chest and he cries. Sam's thinking, _"Fuck you Chuck for bringing Yellow Eyes back, but whoever brought Jack back... Thank you."_ Sam just finished that thought as his only _family_ wraps his arms around him.

"Sammy? Sammy! It's gonna be okay." Dean kisses Sam's tear stained cheek as he holds him in his arms. Dean prays, _"Cas, we need you at the location of the meeting. Hurry!"_

John slowly steps up into the van. "Sam? How badly are you hurt?"

Sam doesn't think twice. He looks up toward the child, "Jack! Come here!" He has his right arm out. John goes to him and Sam hugs him close. "I missed you so much." He kisses the top of his head while holding him close.

John loves the warmth and love he feels from Sam.

John asks, "Is that who I was? Jack? I have all these memories, but they're like bits and pieces. It was like deja vu at first. Once I saw that demon with yellow eyes, I remembered the stories. How horrible he was. I felt like I could _do_ something and so I did."

Sam is in a lot of pain. John can feel it. He places his hand on Sam's neck. John's eyes glow yellow fire and healing power flows from John's body into Sam's and heals Sam thoroughly.

Cas and Rowena show up together and they see the dead humans that were once demons. To Cas, the scene is very familiar. It reminds him of when Sam took out demons and then the Horseman, Famine, in the all-you-can-eat restaurant. "Oh no!" He's afraid Sam drank demon blood.

He rushes to the van where there's a glow emanating from inside. He wasn't prepared for what he sees. John healing Sam with the same powers that his son Jack had. As soon as John is finished, Cas dares to say his son's name. "Jack?"

John looks up and smiles. "Father!" He gets up and rushes to hug Cas. Cas laughs and hugs John. "I can't believe it! How?!"

John laughs. "I don't know. Memories are just starting to come back to me. I have memories of my life as Jack Kline, but I know that I'm really John Carmichael."

"John." Dean's still holding Sam's hand. As he sits next to his brother. "Is Jack possessing you right now? Did you say "yes" to Jack and allow him to be a part of you?"

"No. At least, I don't think so. It's like I woke up and Jack's memories were also my own. It's so confusing."

Dean gives John a warm smile. "It's okay. We'll figure it out later. We need to get out of here before someone sees us." Sam gets up and he's so relieved that he's able to stand and walk without pain. Speaking of relief. "Oh, I really gotta go. Been holding it for hours." Sam quickly exits the van.

Cas shakes his head. As Sam exits the van. "I don't miss urinating."

Sam hugs Cas quickly before sneaking off to the other side of the van to find privacy.

Dean exits the van and gathers the Blade of Nightmares to put it back in the lock box. He locks up the white box and then puts it in the van's center console.

After Sam finishes, Dean walks up to him and hugs him while no one's looking. "Sammy." Dean's eyes are full of remorse, concern and love for his best friend and soul mate.

"Shhh. It's okay De. I'm okay." He kisses his brother. Dean kisses back. Their relationship is closer than brothers should be and has been since the first time Sam died and came back. They figured life's too short to worry about what ifs. They do their best to stay discreet. It's been really hard to do that with people living with them. Right now they just needed this moment to touch and reassure each other that they're really okay.

They decide Sam will ride with Cas and Rowena in Cas's truck back to the bunker.

Dean will take John with him in the van and Baby on the trailer. The van is low on gas. Luckily, Cas carries a container of gas in his truck, just in case. Dean pours it into the van and off they go. Cas following Dean to the nearest gas station, then off to the bunker.


	12. John/Jack Explained

They made it safely to the bunker. They expected more demons to follow them. Maybe another prince or knight of hell to show up. It didn't happen though.

Sam is so happy to be home he can't hardly breathe. He thought for sure he'd die or end up in hell as a permanent resident.

Rowena surprises Sam when she gives him a hug. He hugs her back. She smiles. "We can't lose you. You're the only one that can send me to my final rest." She says it as if dying would be a welcomed relief for her. She pats his cheek when she sees his concern. "Don't worry Samuel. Whatever happens, I'm certain it will be for the best." She looks at her fingers and makes a " _ask_ " sound. "I broke a nail."

Dean hasn't come inside yet. Sam's wondering what he's doing. He touches Rowena's arm, "Excuse me." He walks past her toward the garage. Rowena is also curious. She follows.

Dean's looking at his car. It's a pile of junk. Sam stands nearby and watches as Dean surveys the damage. After a few minutes he rests his head on the mangled roof.

Sam walks up and rubs his brother's back. "I'm sorry."

Dean hugs Sam as tears fall. "It's not your fault. You could have died." He steps back and wipes his eyes. "All the times I've fixed her." He moves his hand over the bent metal. "I don't think I have it in me to do it again. Oh, did you see this?" Dean opens the trunk that's being held closed with a bungee cord. It's empty. All their weapons are gone. It's like a lifetime of memories has been stolen from them. Someone used red spray paint to write a giant red "666" over the devil's trap painted under the hood.

Dean's phone rings. "It's Sonny." He answers the call.

Dean: "Hey Sonny. Everything okay?"

Sonny: "I was about to ask you the same thing. Were you able to get your brother back?"

Dean: "We got lucky. Sam and I just made it home and he's okay. We were able to take out the top demon and his small crew. Have you seen any demons walking around your place?"

Sonny: "Earlier there were dozens of them standing around the perimeter of the house. I think they left about ten o'clock or so. I haven't gone outside to check."

Dean: "You shouldn't have any further problems with them. They were after me and Sam. Now that they know we took out their leader, they're not likely to come back to New York. Call me if anything should happen though."

Sonny: "Will do. You take care of that boy. You'll be a great dad, D Dawg."

Dean smiles.

Dean: "Thanks Sonny. I mean it. You taught me a lot. I owe you."

Sonny: "No you don't. I'll talk with you again real soon."

Dean: "Take care."

Sonny: "You too."

They end their call.

Rowena went back inside. Sam waited for Dean to end his call. "Everything's okay with Sonny?"

Dean nods. "Yeah."

Sam hugs his brother. "Don't give up."

Dean feels so tired of trying. He holds on to his brother. "When do we get to stop? Huh? When is it over?"

Sam looks into Dean's eyes. "When we're in heaven. You know this. The minute we decided to become hunters we knew we'd be fighting for the rest of our lives."

Dean walks away from his brother. He's going back inside. "I thought I'd be dead by now."

"We should be." Sam follows Dean inside.

John walks up to Dean and Sam. "Cas left to take Rowena back to Monte Carlo."

"Okay. Are you hungry?" Dean heads for the kitchen.

John pulls on Dean's arm. "Wait. I want to ask you something."

Dean stops and looks at the young man in front of him. "I'm listening."

John looks confused and scared. "I really need to understand how I am two people at one time. Can you help me?"

"I guess the real question is how did Jack become part of you?" Dean is worried about the young boy in front of him.

"Why don't we ask?" Sam grins. He then closes his eyes, "Billie, will you please help us? We need to know about John Carmichael and what happened to him."

The reaper Jessica appears. "Billie says I should be able to answer any question you might have."

Sam asks, "How did Jack become part of John? Can you explain all this?"

John is standing close to Dean.

Jessica looks into John's eyes. "John was dying. His uncle had done some unimaginable things to him. Jack was in the Empty without a soul. He couldn't return without a soul. Billie listened to John's pleas and cries for death. Billie introduced Jack to John while John was unconscious and dying. Jack promised to protect John as long as he lives. John just wanted his mom."

Jessica takes a deep breath. "Billie was ready to walk away and let John finish the last agonizing hours of his terribly short life. This way John would end up in heaven with his mother. That's when John asked Jack a question. "Can you make him stop?" Jack had a conversation with John and told him that a man would come along to save him from his uncle. Jack told John all about his dad, Dean Winchester. How he missed him and wants to help him fight bad guys. They talked for a while. Eventually John asked Jack to stay."

Jessica starts to pace a bit. "So, is Jack possessing John? Let's put it this way." She stops pacing. "If John asked Jack to leave Jack would go without hesitation. John would not be harmed in any way. Jack loves John. In fact, Jack stayed hidden within John until he saw Azazel and felt Sam's pain from where he was sitting in the truck. This is how Jack wishes to remain - silent unless needed. He will talk with John when John talks to him. He just wants to grow up watching the world through John's eyes. Grow older with John and experience all his life has to offer. Once John goes off to college or gets married, Jack will most likely return to the Empty, but at least he'll have memories of growing up as a Winchester with John."

Jessica looks at John. "Can you hear Jack talking to you?"

"Sometimes. At first I thought it was just me. I thought I was going crazy. I had forgotten about talking with Jack until you told us that story. Jack did all those things to those demons. I was so scared. He apologized to me many times. I liked watching him make Sam all better. That made me feel good. I'd rather heal others than hurt them."

"That's understandable." Jessica smiles. "You understand that you can ask Jack to leave your body and he will. Just know that if he goes away, he won't ever come back. Okay?"

"He told me that several times." John smiles. "I like Jack. He doesn't talk much."

"Don't let Dean, Sam and Castiel talk to Jack all the time and ignore you. That's not what Jack wants either. This is YOUR life and Jack wants you to be happy and safe." She point at the men. "There's no safer place on this planet right now, than right here with these men. Believe me, I know."

"What are you exactly?" John's still holding Dean's hand.

She smiles. "I'm an angel of death. I help people who have died cross over to the other side. My name is Jessica. I follow these guys around because they are hunters and they kill bad guys."

"I get it. You take bad guys over to hell also. I wouldn't want your job." John couldn't imagine what she's seen.

She just smiles. She asks the men and John, "Any further questions?"

Sam asks, "There's no alternative? No way to reincarnated Jack so he has his own soul again?"

Jessica shakes her head. "There's no way he'll have his own soul unless Chuck gives him a new one or he shares someone else's like he's doing now. I'm sorry."

"Thank you for explaining things." Cas feels better knowing what's happening with John and Jack.

Dean and Sam also give her their gratitude.

John hugs her. "Thank you for bringing Jack to me."

She smiles. "I'll give my boss your gratitude. She made it all possible."

Dean speaks up. "Let her know we're all grateful."

"I will." She's still smiling as she vanishes.

John speaks up. "Jack says he's content with how things are. He told me to tell Castiel that when he goes to war to remember that I have nephilim powers." John's brow crinkles. "What's a nephilim?"

Dean replies, "Someone that's half human and half angel."

"I have angel in me?!" John is a bit frightened.

"You have someone who's way, way, WAY cooler than an angel in you. He's..."

John's eye's turn gold and suddenly Jack takes over John's body. "Look guys. I'm not doing this again unless a fight happens and I'm needed. I just wanted to ask that you don't overwhelm him with too much about me. Like telling him about Lucifer."

Dean nods in agreement. "We won't. Promise."

Jack smiles. "Good. I also wanted to tell you all just how sorry I am about Mary and causing what happened."

Sam speaks for everyone. "We forgave you before Chuck did what he did. You'll always be our son." All three men move in at one time to hug Jack. He's such a small boy, but they manage to each hug him and then make it a group hug.

"You are my family and I love you all very much. I'll always be watching and loving you. I'll be here when you need me to fight for you." He touches each of their faces. "Okay. Step back to where you were."

Everyone resumes their positions. "Dean." Jack smiles. "You were telling your son he's way cooler than an angel." Jack laughs. "He's..." Jack's eyes flash gold and John returns.

"...part human. That makes Jack one of us and more powerful because unlike angels, Jack was born with a soul. Angels are created without a soul. They only have grace. Nephilims, like Jack were born with both a soul and grace."

John thinks about that. "That's why I was, well Jack was able to kill that demon with his thoughts."

"You saw that?" Dean's surprised.

"Yes. At first I thought it was me doing it. I then realized Jack was doing it when he started talking. I was just watching as he talked and used my body. I didn't mind because he was saving you and healing Sam." John smiles. "Jack wanted to stay hidden from everyone, even you. That's why he wouldn't heal me all the way like he usually did when my uncle hurt me. If he healed me all the way, you would have known someone powerful had healed me. When Castiel healed me, Jack reassured me that Castiel was a good man and that I was okay."

John sighs. "You wanted to leave me at Sonny's. Jack said we couldn't stay there, but I couldn't let anyone know about Jack. So, I went along with your plan. I got upset when I found out Sam got caught by demons. Jack told me Sam fights monsters and he'd be okay. Jack's my friend and I'm his friend. He stays quiet most of the time and I forget he's even there. He only talks to me when I ask him something."

Dean smiles. "That's a good thing John. You're going to live here with us from now on. Okay?"

John hugs Dean tight around his neck. "Thank you."


	13. Heaven Vs Hell

_**~One Month Later~** _

During the month that has past, a couple long dead members of the Men of Letters have shown up at the bunker. Sam quickly determined they were possessed by demons. The Winchesters quickly trapped and exorcised them. They then did a salt and burn of the bodies.

John turned 11 years old on June 7th. It's the same day Dean's dad gifted him with keys to the Impala. Dean will never forget that day. He'll never forget this one either.

Dean, Sam and Cas gave John a birthday party he'd never forget. They went to a cabin by a lake. They went horseback riding and fishing. They rode jet skies and went swimming. Had water gun fights and really had a fun time. That evening, Dean grilled burgers while Sam baked a cake and a pie. Their dinner was wonderful.

After having a little cake, John opened presents. He got new video games, a cell phone, shoes, a baseball, a bat, a mitt and hat, a gift card to Hot Topic and a gun.

John looks at Dean as he holds the box open with a gun inside.

Dean takes the gun out. "You're going to have to be properly trained the way me and Sammy were. This isn't a toy. It's a tool used as protection against monsters. For now, we'll put it away. You'll get a chance to go do some target practice with us soon. Okay?" Dean puts it back in it's box and closes it up.

John likes the idea of learning things from Dean and Sam. "Thank you. I love all my presents." He hugs everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**~Two Weeks Later~** _

Hell prepares for it's uprising. Asmodeus, Dagon, Abaddon and 6 other knights of hell bring on a fleet of hell's most vicious demons. They've also gathered the worst monsters they could find.

On the angel's side of things, there's a bit of hope. Gabriel reemerged out of nowhere. He was able to gather many combat angels, including Castiel.

Sam, Dean and John see Castiel change into actual combat gear that includes a silver in color helmet, shield and breast plate that resists angel blade penetration. His armor also deflects anything demons can throw at him.

Dean notices that the armor is heavily covered in soot and pretty banged up.

"Last time I wore this, I was in perdition searching for a righteous man." Cas winks.

Dean rolls his eyes. "You kick it in the ass, Mr. Angel-of-the-Lord."

"I intend to." Cas is about to vanish.

"NOT WITHOUT ME!" A young man walks into the war room where Dean and Sam were saying their farewells to Cas. He appears to be in his late 20's. He stands six feet tall and is of average size. Not too muscular. His hair is a bit long like Sam's. His eyes are whiskey brown and determined. He's wearing identical armor as Cas, only his is golden in color and has a symbol on his shield and breastplate. The symbol is Enochian and looks like a star. It represents Lucifer, the Morning Star, Jack's biological father.

No one argues with Jack. He wants to fight and help protect humans from hell on Earth. No one can stop him.

Everyone understands that John gave his consent or Jack wouldn't be doing this.

~~~~~

The angel - demon war didn't last long. Jack, in the midst of battle, yells, "EVERY DEMON RETURN TO HELL! NOW!! ALL DEMONS GO TO HELL!!"

Every demon vanishes immediately. Even demons possessing humans smoke out and return to hell.

Jack continues, "ALL OF HELL'S GATES ARE SEALED. THEY WILL REMAIN CLOSED FOREVER!" Jack drops his shield.

And so the gates of hell are all closed. Princes of hell, knights of hell and all the demons in existence are in hell and will remain there for all eternity.

Monsters of all kind try to run, angels smite them quickly. Very few escape.

Everyone around the world hears a horn sound. It's Gabriel's horn. Heaven has triumphed over hell.

A new age has dawned. No more crossroads deals. No more demon possessions. No more sin cities run by demon overlords. Any sinful nature that occurs now will come straight from the heart of the human soul. There are enough evil humans walking the Earth to bridge that gap, unfortunately.

Jack quickly returns to the bunker. He finds Sam and Dean in Dean's room. He makes sure John's not able to see. The brothers are in each others arms making love. Jack quietly returns to the war room. He sits at the table and listens without trying to. The brothers are very intense. Very passionate. It warms Jack's heart to know they love each other so deeply.

After a while, Dean emerges wearing a robe and slippers. As he's heading toward the kitchen he spots Jack sitting at the table. "How long have you been back?"

He doesn't lie. "A while."

Dean walks over to Jack and sits beside him. "Something on your mind?"

Jack smiles. "You and Sam are beautiful together. I didn't watch." He places his hand on his chest over his metal breastplate. "I could feel your love fill this whole bunker. It's a living, beautiful thing." He lowers his hand. "It reminds me of how I felt in heaven when my mom held me in her arms."

Billie appears. "I have some news all of you will want to hear."

Dean quickly gets Sam and they return to the war room.

Billie just says it. "Castiel was very proud of you today Jack. He stood on the battle field and watched his son become a man. He saw you end a war that's been going on for eons. Angels chanted your name and started singing songs again. Castiel was laughing and was so happy."

Jack has tears in his eyes. "The Shadow took him."

Billie nods. "I'm sorry."

Dean looks between Jack and Billie. "WHAT!?"

Jack explains what happened while he was in heaven. When the Shadow invaded heaven killing angels looking for him. It almost took Jack, but Castiel made a deal that spared him. That's when Lily Sunder gave her life to bring Jack back to life.

The deal Cas made with the Shadow has just been fulfilled.

"No! No! You can't let this happen! Jack!" Dean is angry and sad.

Jack stands up. He makes his armor vanish and then returns to the 11 year old boy John Carmichael is. He looks to his fathers. "I'll see what I can do. I love you both so much." He stands on a chair and hugs Dean. Sam comes in and hugs them both. He steps down. "Keep a close eye on John. He's not going to understand why I had to leave him. I tried to tell him, but we're best friends and he believes everyone leaves him. If I can return, I will."

"Jack, what are you going to do." Sam's not wanting to lose him again.

Jack touches Sam's arm. "It'll be okay."

He looks up to Billie. "Please take me to the Empty."

"Are you sure? I can't bring you back." Billie lays out the truth. If he goes, it will be for good.

"I understand."

She tells him, "Have a seat."

Jack sits down. He closes his eyes and talks to John. _"It'll be okay John. You have Dean and Sam. They both love you and will never leave you. If I can, I'll come back. I have to try to save my father. Castiel needs me."_

No one hears John's reply. John is screaming and crying. Jack does his best to comfort him. _"I'm sorry."_

Jack opens his eyes and looks at Billie. "I'm ready."

"We love you Jack. You come back." Dean is holding Sam's hand as Sam cries on Dean's shoulder.

"I Love you both."

Billie touches John's shoulder and she disappears.

John wakes up as if he was sleeping. He immediately starts crying. "Jack?! Jack!! Don't leave me!!"

Dean picks him up and holds him in his lap. "We'll be okay kid. I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~

_**~The Empty~** _

Jack wakes up once again in the Empty. He's alone. He stands up and closes his eyes. _"Castiel. I'm here._ He opens his eyes and they cast a pale glow in the darkness. "Castiel wake up."

Castiel appears before him, but Jack knows this is not Castiel. Jack tells the Shadow, "I'm not wanting to see _you_. I want to see my father."

The Shadow shifts into the form of Lucifer with a bit of a smirk and a laugh.

Jack's eyes glow a bit brighter the angrier the Shadow makes him. He starts to yell, "CASTIEL!! CASTIEL!!!"

"Child. You're in a VOID. No one can hear you." Lucifer's sneer is a bit disturbing.

Instead of yelling, Jack closes his eyes and prays. _"Castiel. Hear me. I'm in the Empty with you. Wake up and seek me. I need you!_

A figure appears beside Jack.

"Castiel?!" Jack hopes it's him. It's not.

Naomi heard Jack's call. She admonishes him, "Keep calling out your prayers Jack. Wake us all up."

Jack nods and closes his eyes, _Castiel! Angels of the Lord! Hear me and rise!"_

Jack starts seeing images of angels emerging from the darkness. "ARISE ALL YOU ANGELS!"

The Shadow grips Jack's throat. "You can't do this. **THIS** is my home. **THIS** is my domain. How dare you!"

Jack's eyes change from golden fire to blazing red. "You have no clue what you've captured in your web evil spider. Oh, but you're soon going to find out!" Jack looks to he left. "Isn't that right father?"

Both Lucifer and Castiel are standing side by side. Their eyes are glowing. Lucifer replies, "Absolutely."

Cas replies, "Nobody messes with a Winchester and lives. Ask him." He points to Lucifer.

Lucifer concedes. "He's right."

Jack yells, "Angels, **NOW**!"

Every angel, along with Jack, uses their powers to attempt to smite the Shadow. Over the ages, the Shadow has taken in thousands of angels. All of them were sleeping until Jack woke them up. Jack spoke to their minds and they all know what to do. All of them are smiting the Shadow at once.

The Shadow gets weaker. It looks like it may try to escape. Jack locks it into place. A few second more and it finally implodes. Black goo goes everywhere as the Empty breaks apart. It starts to form a black hole. Angels being sucked toward the center of this cyclone. Jack tries to use his powers to stop the cyclone, but he can't. Angels realize they have their powers and can escape the Empty. They start to vanish before getting sucked into the center of the cyclone.

Jack and Cas make themselves vanish and reappear in the bunker.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**~The MOL Bunker, Year 2059~** _

Cas and Jack are both on the floor as the bunker alarm is going off. Red beacon lights flashing.

A man is standing over them with a shot gun. He suddenly recognizes them. "Castiel?! Jack?!" He drops his weapon and goes to help the men up. He hugs Jack. "I missed you!"

Jack hugs back. "Missed you, too."

The bunker stops alerting when someone turns the alarm off. He slowly walks toward the men. "Cas? Jack?"

They can't believe what they're seeing. Cas looks at the old man. "Dean?" He looks at the man hugging Jack. "John, how long has it been?"

Dean finally makes his way to Cas and hugs him. "Forty years. You left us 40 years ago."

Jack hugs Dean. "I missed you."

Dean smiles. "So good to see you both again."

John pulls out a chair for Dean. He sits down. His knees are really bad.

Cas asks, "Where's Sam?"

Dean looks like he just got kicked in the chest.

"Dad passed away five years ago in his sleep. He had a stroke and never woke up from it." John rubs Dean's back.

Cas is full of sorrow. "I'm so sorry to hear about Sam."

Jack has no feelings about it. He will miss Sam, but he can't feel anything.

Dean places his hand on Jack's hand. "I've got something for you." He hands Jack a jar. It has a bright glowing white flicker inside it. "Sam was able to get part of your soul back before he died. He made me promise to give it to you right away when you returned. I told him if you ever returned. He was convinced you would. I told him if you did return and took your soul back, you'd probably burn it up and end up soulless before you die. He had a lot of faith in you. So, there you go."


	14. Jack Loves John

Jack thinks about taking in his soul. If he takes in his soul, he'll be able to feel again. He'll be normal, but if he uses his powers, he'll burn it up and possibly die as a soulless being lost in the veil for eternity. No Empty, purgatory, heaven or hell. If he dies with a soul, he'll get to be in heaven.

Cas asks about Rowena.

John smiles, "That's a story for father to tell. I wasn't there. I just know that my dad had something to do with her death. I really liked her."

Cas smiles. "I liked her too."

Dean looks at Jack. "You going to stare at it or take it in?" Talking about his soul.

Jack wants to feel again. He opens the jar and the soul goes right into his mouth and fills him up. The moment his soul is in place he starts to cry. He closes his eyes and looks to heaven. _"Thank you dad."_

Dean gets up and hugs Jack. Jack stands up and hugs his other dad. "Thank you. I love you."

"Love you too." Dean's so happy to have Jack in his arms. "My boy."

Jack also hugs Cas and then John.

He smiles at John. "You're so grown up now! For me and Cas, we've only been gone a few days. We've missed so much."

John smiles. He reaches into his wallet and shows Jack his driver's licence. It shows John's name as "John Carmichael Winchester, Junior"

"It's official?" Jack smiles.

"Yes! We got it legally done when I turned 13. When I turned 18, I went to college with part of my inheritance and I have a degree in music and forensic criminology." John smiles.

Dean is also beaming with pride.

Jack smiles, "I'm so happy you had the childhood I was hoping for you. I knew my dads were the best."

"Our dads are truly amazing. Let me show you something." Jack leads them all to the garage.

Sitting there as pretty as ever is Dean's 67 Chevy Impala in cherry condition. Cas and Jack both remember seeing it totaled and sitting on a trailer bed in pieces.

Jack looks at Dean. "You did that?"

"Dean smirks. I was the brains, the kid was the muscle. He did the work on it. So, now it's his Baby." Dean watches the men looking all over the car with awe at how perfect the restoration is.

Dean pops the trunk. "Check this out."

John has the trunk set up like it was before, but he has his own supply of weapons and tools he needs for his job as a crime scene investigator. John finds several cases that are supernatural in nature and investigates those off the records with other hunters. He's a really good inside man.

Cas and Dean go inside to talk.

Jack asks about college and dating. Did John find a girl?

John smiles. "I don't date women."

Jack's confused.

John kisses Jack on the lips. It's soft and very chaste. "Like I said. I don't date women."

Jack understands. He moves John's hair from his face. "You still should have found someone."

John looks into Jack's eyes. "I had someone and he left me."

"John, I had to save Castiel. I couldn't..."

John kisses Jack again, but this time with more desire. Jack kisses back and holds John in his arms. They look into each others eyes. John touches Jack's hair. "I've always wanted to be with you. Come with me. Let's go somewhere that we can be alone. I want to talk with you and touch you. Hold you and just be as close to you as I can get."

Jack thinks about this. He and John are technically brothers. They aren't blood related, but they have the same dads. He grins as he kisses John's cheek. "What would our dads think if they knew?"

John laughs. "Our dads, Dean and Sam, were secret lovers. More than that. They were soul mates. I thought you knew that."

Jack nods. "I had no idea that you knew." Jack starts feeling sad as he thinks about Sam. His smile and the way he was such a good father. "I miss Sam."

John hugs Jack. "I do too." John pulls away and opens Baby's driver's side door. "Come on. Let's go for a ride."

Jack smiles. "Okay."

~~~~~

Once on the road, John gives Jack his cell phone so he can call Dean. He does and just informs him he's with John. They're out for a drive. Dean asks them to be back for dinner. Jack says they will.

John stops at La Quinta 50 miles south of Lebanon. They stopped and got a bag of fast food and some beer on the way.

Once inside the room, they got comfortable. John slipped into the bed and cracked open a beer. Jack got in beside him. "How old are you now?"

John was a bit surprised by the question. "I just turned 51." He smiles at Jack. "You don't look a day over 23. Almost the way I remember you."

Jack rests his head on John's chest. "What was it like growing up with your dads?"

John is still smiling. He sets his beer down and moves his fingers over Jack's hair. "I called Sam my dad and I call Dean my father. Dean was the disciplinarian. He knew all my tricks as a kid. I couldn't get away with anything. Dad was a gentle soul. He liked letting me have my way, but he wasn't a push over. He could see through my bullshit too."

Jack laughs. "They were the same way with me. Dean let me eat junk food and sugary cereals. Sam tried to make me eat healthier. Dean would be the one to let me drive his car when I was only a year old, but he never wanted to talk about girls or anything like that with me. He felt awkward. I understood why when I realized him and Sam were together. Their love for each other always made me feel loved. You know?" Jack looks into John's eyes.

"Yeah."

Jack looks into John's eyes. "I missed you. You were my best friend."

John touches Jack's face. "I can't believe you're here. It's like I'm dreaming and I don't ever want to wake up."

Jack kisses John. It's slow and soft. John moves his hands over Jack's body. Jack feels loved.

"Jack, have you ever been with anyone sexually?" Jack bites his bottom lip and shakes his head no.

John grins. "It's okay." He kisses Jack's blushed cheek. "I could be your first. If you want?" Now John's cheeks blush a bit.

Jack kisses John again. "I want to show you how much I love you."

"There's no special powers needed. Just us. You and I will let what we feel for each other take us someplace we won't ever want to leave." John kisses his neck.

Jack states plainly, "I'm already here. I never want to leave this place with you."

John laughs. "My love. It gets so much better."

"Show me."

John bottoms. They move slowly and lovingly. They want each moment to last. To savor every touch. Every sigh. Every movement. Every look of love. Every gasp for breath. Place to memory every sound of pleasure. Every plea for more. Especially when they cry out their release. John's climax is intense. He holds Jack in his arms as his body goes through small aftershocks of pleasure.

Jack quickly finds his release as John's body tightens around him. Jack's first orgasm brings him to tears. John thought he hurt him somehow. He cradles his love in his arms. "You okay?"

Jack kisses John. "I love you."

John smiles. "You're so beautiful. I love you." They kiss and stay in each other's embrace for some time.

~~~~~

John's phone rings. He looks at the clock. "Oh shit. Father's pissed."

"Why?" Jack sits up.

"We dozed off and now we're late." He answers the phone.

John: "Hi Father."

Dean: "Thought you two were going to be here for dinner. We're waiting on you."

John: "Shit. We fell asleep."

Dean: "What?"

John: "We took a nap and overslept."

Dean: "Cas can come get you and take you back. Where are you?"

John looks at Jack who's already up and getting dressed.

John: "Let me talk to Castiel."

Dean: "You can tell me."

John: "I know I can, but I just need to give him the location first hand. Okay?"

John can hear Dean yelling in the background.

Cas: "Hello."

John: "Hi Castiel. Jack and I are at the La Quinta hotel in Osbourne. You can come get us, just don't tell father we're at a hotel. Tell him we're at a bar."

Cas: "Oh. Okay. I'm leaving now."

Literally as soon as John hangs up, Cas arrives. John is busy turning off his GPS. he knows his father all too well. John has his underwear on. He gets up and grabs his jeans.

Cas quickly understands what's going on. "Are you going to tell your father?"

Jack and John look at each other. John asks them both, "You sure he won't have a heart attack? He's 80 years old."

Jack looks at Cas. "Is 80 years old really old?"

Cas nods. "For a human male to reach the age of 80 years old, especially with how he has abused his body with booze, burgers and hunting. I'd say it's a miracle he's alive. You boys need to hurry up. If we don't return soon, he'll call the police and file a missing person's report."

"Really?" Jack can't believe it.

"He did it on me once. We should hurry." John rushes to comb his hair and rinse his mouth out with beer.

Jack copies John.

Cas takes them both to the bunker for dinner.

~~~~~

"Took you long enough." Dean's been waiting at the kitchen table.

The men wash their hands before setting the table. John pulls the chicken pot pie from the oven and sets it on the table. Jack gets drinks for everyone. John gets a small bowl of fruit salad from the fridge.

Everyone serves themselves. Dean had to give up red meat. He only eats chicken and turkey now. John tries to get him to eat fish, but he's never cared for it much. He likes shrimp, but of course he wants it fried.

Dean has an attitude that he's 80 and should be able to eat whatever he wants. Thing is, his digestion argues with him and wins. No carbonation, including beer. It causes pain. No meat. It makes him constipated. Easy on the booze. It makes him sick. Easy on the sweets. It hurts his teeth and makes him pee a lot. Dean Winchester is now a grumpy old man and he hates it along with everything else.

He's miserable and doesn't have Sam to share his misery with anymore.

Cas grins as he watches everyone eat. He likes that the boys are with Dean for dinner.

John asks, "Did you destroy the Empty and the Shadow?"

Cas nods, "We did. Jack woke up all the angels at once and all of us attacked the Shadow all at the same time. The Shadow imploded and that caused a vortex within the Empty. Some angels got lost in the vortex. Jack and I escaped before the vortex collapsed."

Jack thinks on things. "It happened so fast. It's hard to believe 40 years went by on Earth. We must have gotten trapped in the vortex for a while before we escaped it."

Cas agrees with Jack.

Dean talks about Jack and Cas being gone. "Sam was never the same when we lost you both. He thought Jack had returned to us for good. Even if he was hidden within John, he was HERE. Then Cas was stolen away by the Shadow. Jack said it was because of a deal you made to save him. He had to go save you. I guess you are a Winchester Cas. You made a bone head deal. We can't seem to stop ourselves, can we?"

Cas laughs. "You're right Dean. You're absolutely right. Like the deal you and Sam made with Billie. You'd give up the life of a Winchester to save yourselves from being prisoners in solitary confinement because they thought you two tried to kill the president. Mary was about to let Billie take her in your place. I broke your stupid deal by killing Billie."

Jack's shocked, "You killed Death!"

Cas and Dean laugh together. Cas says, "No. I killed the reaper Billie." He points at Dean. "He killed Death."

The boys look at Dean.

"I also killed Hitler." He keeps smiling as he eats his dinner.

"Because Billie was the last reaper killed, she became the new Death. There was a need for a replacement since Dean killed Death, and she was it." Cas finishes the story.

Dean goes on. "Old Death wanted me to kill Sammy. Screw Death! Like I'd kill my own brother."

Cas clears his throat.


	15. Passing of a Legend

"You shut it!" Dean points at Cas.

"Tell us, father!" Jack practically begs Cas to tell them about the time Dean tried to kill Sam.

"Dean once became a demon and tried to kill Sam, but to his defense it wasn't really Dean. It was demon Dean and Sam cured him." Cas shrugs.

"You were a demon?" John's shocked.

"See! Now you've done it." Dean tosses his fork onto his plate. "The kid's gonna have nightmares."

John wrinkles his brow. "Father, I'm 51 years old. I haven't had a nightmare in well over 45 years."

"How do you look like Sammy when you say that. Don't do that." Dean's upset now. He gets up and slowly heads for his room.

"I'm sorry father."

"I'm fine. Just eat your dinner."

Cas gives Dean time to get to his room before he excuses himself to go check on him.

John shrugs. "Was it something I said?"

Jack is sitting next to John. Jack hugs him. "I think Dean just really misses Sam. The same way I'd miss you. Especially now."

"What are you saying?" John looks into Jack's eyes.

Jack holds his cheek as he kisses him. "I love you. I don't think I ever want to know what it's like to not have you beside me. Not ever again."

John smiles. "You're eternal, Jack. Before I know it, I'll be just like my father. A grumpy old man."

"I know what I'll have to do when it comes time."

"What do you mean?" John's worried for Jack.

"My biological father once stole my grace. It caused my cells to deteriorate rapidly. I died. Our fathers brought me back to life using magic. I was warned not to use my powers or I'd burn up my soul. I used all the power I could generate to kill an archangel named Michael that was going to kill our fathers. I took Michael's grace, but lost my soul. I'm not sure what Sam did to find a part of my soul, but I'm eternally grateful to him and Dean." Jack presses his forehead to John's.

"So, you're saying you're half archangel and you're willing to give up your grace for me?" John's stomach gets queasy.

Jack decides now is the time for truth. "We don't get to pick who our biological father is. Just like you didn't pick who your uncle was. Right?"

John agrees.

"My biological father just so happens to be Lucifer." Jack looks into John's eyes for his reaction. He doesn't see one. "Lucifer stole my grace right before fighting Sam and Dean. They killed Lucifer and sent him to the Empty. I was happy to see him go."

John moves his fingers over Jack's face. "You're beautiful."

"You've said that before."

"Have I?" John kisses Jack. Jack returns his kisses with more urgency.

Cas walks in and sees them. He clears his throat. The men quickly straighten up. "You two aren't of blood relation. I couldn't be happier for you."

"John knows about Dean and Sam." Jack informs Castiel.

"Did you know cupid marked them?" Castiel shares his bit of important information.

"No!" John is in shock.

"Why?" Jack's just curious.

"Same reason cupid must have marked you two. To keep outsiders from forming bonds and getting killed. That's my best guess. Sam had several female lovers and whenever they'd get serious, his lover would die. Sam believed he was cursed and refused to take any more lovers."

Cas looks down the hall. He continues his story about Lisa Braeden and Dean. The reason Dean refused to take a female lover after her is that he believed they would get caught and held as ransom or killed for revenge. That's why he was determined to send John to Sonny in New York. Get him far away from the Winchester curse."

"Can you tell if we were struck by a cupid?" John needs to know.

"Cupid may mark you and get the ball rolling, but it's up to you to have the feelings behind it. If the real love and need for each other just isn't there, the effects of cupid's mark will fade. Now, if you're soul mates like Sam and Dean, that's different. Their hearts are permanently marked by Eros, the god of love."

Jack pulls up his shirt. "Check my heart. See if it's marked. If it is, we'll know John's is too."

"You sure, because this will be very painful. Even for you." Cas pulls off his trench coat and jacket. He starts rolling up his dress shirt sleeve.

"I want you to. We need to know." Jack takes a deep breath.

"Hold still and control your powers. Remember that you're powerful enough to kill me by accident."

"I promise I won't kill you. You'll be just fine, father." He closes his eyes as Cas's hand enters his stomach and reaches up to gently touch his heart.

Jack doesn't cry out in pain. His eyes glow gold for a moment and he passes out. Cas removes his hand and he holds Jack up. "Jack?" He knows he's alive. His heart's still beating and he's breathing.

John walks behind Jack and wraps his arms around him. He kisses him on the temple. He whispers, "Come on Jack. Time to wake up for me."

Jack feels like he's encased in love. It's comforting and he wants to stay here. He's told to wake up. He wants to see the man speaking to him. He opens his eyes to see John's face next to him.

Cas smiles. "You are indeed marked as soul mates."

John kisses his love. "There was a reason I waited for you."

Cas offers to return them to the motel.

They accept, but need to clear the dinner table first.

While Jack finishes the dishes, John goes to check on his father.

_**Knock Knock** _

"Come in."

John goes in to find his father looking through old photos again. "Hey. How're you feeling?"

"I'm better." He looks a bit tired.

"I need to tell you something and I don't want to upset you." He messes with the hem of his shirt.

"Go ahead and tell me. I'll stay calm. I promise." He grins.

"I'm just going to say it. I've been in love with Jack since the day I met him when I was 10." John's face is red. His freckles standing out

"Does Jack feel the same way?"

John smiles. "Yes. He's my soul mate. Cas just confirmed it."

"Go get Jack and come back in here." Dean sits up in bed.

Jack and John enter Dean's room. Dean smiles at them both. "I'm happy for you. This place and all that's in it belongs to the both of you and Cas. Love each other as Sam and I loved each other. If need be, die for each other or kill for each other. Just never desert or hurt the one you love. I've taught you all that I know. I've also learned an awful lot from all of you. I wish I could be around to see what comes next for the two of you, but I've reached the end of my story. It's time for your story to..." Dean closes his eyes and then opens them. "Your story will be awesome. I'm so proud of you both." He looks at John. "John. My son. I'm so very proud of you."

John goes over and hugs his father. "I love you so much father. Thank you for making me a Winchester."

"Son. You were born a Winchester. You remember that." He rubs his arm.

He looks at Jack. "Same goes for you. Come here."

Jack hugs his dad, Dean. He whispers into Dean's ear. "You were my favorite. Don't tell Sam."

Dean laughs. "I love you Jack. You hold on to that soul. I want to see you again. Okay?"

"Okay." Jack's a bit confused as to why Dean's talking the way he is.

"Protect this place and each other. If you decide to abandon this place for good, set off C4 inside it and walk away. Don't let one piece of this place survive. You hear me?" He's looking at all three of the men standing before him.

He hands Jack a leather corded necklace with an amulet on it. "Sam gave that to me one Christmas when he was 8, I think. It glows whenever Chuck-hole is near. Wear it for good health and in memory of your old man."

Jack puts it on. "Thank you. I'll cherish it."

"Okay boys. I've died once this evening. My reaper friend, Billie, is being very patient with me. Giving me time to say my goodbyes." Dean looks so tired.

Cas sits beside his friend in bed. "I'm going to miss you."

Dean pulls Cas in for a hug. He whispers, "Look after my boys. Jack's still just a kid."

"You enjoy retirement. Tell Sam I said hello and I'll see him soon. It was an honor knowing you and loving you Dean Winchester." Cas rubs Dean's shoulder.

Dean scoffs. "Shut up Cas. You're still just a baby in a trench coat."

They both laugh. John and Jack don't get the joke.

"Now go. All of you. Let an old man die in peace." Dean puts on his head phones and turns on his classic rock music.

Jack and John take one last look at Dean listening to his music before walking into the kitchen. They both start crying while holding each other. They think Cas took off somewhere..

Cas is watching Dean invisibly. He watches as Dean dies and his spirit stands next to his body.

"You ready to go Winchester?" Billie holds out her hand.

"This wasn't exactly how I was expecting to die." Dean shaked his head.

Billie shows him the black book recording his death.

"Cardiac arrest due to plaque build up in major arteries. Aka: Too much bacon and too many cheese burgers. Never seeing doctors for bloodwork & proper medicines to help prevent plaque build up."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Whatever. It was all worth it. Every bite. I want to see Sammy." He looks to Billie. "Can we go now, please."

She holds out her hand again.

Dean, ever being the lady's man, takes her hand and drapes it over his arm. "Lead the way my lady."

~~~~~~~~~~

_**~Later That Night~** _

Jack, John and Castiel stand around Dean Winchester's funeral pyre.

Jack holds the amulet that's around his neck as he thinks about the years stolen from him and his fathers. Time they could have spent together. "It's not fair."

Cas completely agrees. He wraps his arm around Jack. "I have stories that I've locked away up here." He touches his temple. "Each one is as vivid as if they happened yesterday. Some are very sad. Some would make you laugh. I think the majority of Dean and Sam Winchester's stories would make you so proud of who they were and what they accomplished. I'll share these stories with you both." Cas pulls John in for a hug. "Your father welcomed death like an old friend. Right now, he's with the love of his life and they're at peace. A well deserved rest from all the struggles they've been through." Cas watches the fire as if it's a living thing.

Cas turns away from the fire and looks to John's face. "Life for humans is very short while on Earth. Don't spend your life on petty things like revenge, harboring anger, hate, greed and selfish pursuits. Be selfless and put other's needs ahead of your own the way that Sam did. Be fearless and brave the way Dean was. Most of all, put your family first. Let nothing come between you and those you love. The stronger you are as a family, the harder it is for the enemy to knock you down." Cas smiles. "That's how Jack and I escaped the Empty."

Jack hugs Cas. "I'd go there and do it all again. I'm lucky to have you as my father."

John hugs Cas also. "Thank you Castiel."

The men go back to the bunker after the funeral and drink the bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label that Dean had stashed away. Cas tells the boys about when they got sucked into the TV, became cartoons and met the cartoon dog Scooby-Doo and his gang of cartoon hunters.

John laughs because he's watched some Scooby-Doo with both his dads, but they never told this story. He laughs a lot and so does Jack and Cas. It's good hearing light hearted stories on a day like today.

John feels a bit light headed. Jack decides it's time for bed. For the first time they share a room in their parents' home. Well, it's now just their home. John sleeps in Jack's room.

John's too intoxicated and depressed to even kiss his love good night. He just curls up against Jack's chest and passes out. Jack wishes sleep could come that easily for him. Sleep does eventually find Jack, however. 


	16. Epilogue - Final Chapter

I decided to post the final chapter tonight. Thank you for reading the story of John C. Winchester, Jr. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

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_**~Heaven~** _

Dean wakes up to the smell of bacon and coffee. The day is already starting out good. He looks at the bed he's in and it's huge. The light coming in through the bedroom windows is perfect. The room temperature is perfect. The bed and bedding is so soft and well... perfect.

He then notices something else. He's not a feeble old man anymore. He gets out of bed and walks to the master bathroom. He turns on the light and his reflection is at least 55 years younger. He's only wearing boxer briefs as he admires his 20-something year old physique. "Not bad Winchester."

"No. Not bad at all."

Dean turns to the voice he hasn't heard in years. His heart starts racing instantly. "SAMMY!"

Sam opens his arms as Dean rushes into them and they kiss like the long lost lovers they truly are.

"Sammy. Let me look at you." Dean looks at him from head to toe. He's perfect. Not a mark on him. His beautiful hair and keliedescope eyes are just as he remembers them.

Sam is also looking over his older brother. Young and fit as ever. His freckles seem to be more obvious and wrinkles have all vanished, excepted those at the corners of those bright green eyes of his. "Dean. It's been way too long."

"It has." He pushes Sam against the bathroom wall and kisses him. His hands in Sam's hair while he grinds up against him. Sam slides his hands into Dean's underwear and grabs hold of his ass. They can't seem to get enough friction.

Dean pushes Sam into the bedroom and they stumble onto the carpeted floor. Dean lands on top of Sam. He pulls Sam's pajama bottoms off along with his boxers. Sam's now naked beneath his brother. Dean touches and kisses Sam almost everywhere he possibly can. "I missed you so much." His hands smooth over Sam's chest as his lips kiss across Sam's navel.

Sam can hardly breathe. His hands touch Dean's hair, face and shoulders as Dean's tongue and lips tease him slowly by kissing and licking all over his chest and abs. He nips at Sam's hips and inner thighs. His open palm pushes up the length of Sam's hardness as he licks and sucks his brothers balls driving him crazy.

There's nothing for Sam to grip as Dean kisses, licks and sucks him. He squirms and arches his back. The back of his hand rests on his brow as wave after wave of pure pleasure washes over him. Dean finally has his soul mate back and he's loving every square inch of him.

Dean spreads Sam open and tastes him for the first time in years. He loves the reactions he gets out of Sam each and every time.

Sam is a breathless victim to Dean. His love making is spot on. Soon Sam is trembling with an urgent need in his gut. He can hear his heart pounding in his ears. "De. Please." He looks at his lover as Dean rises above him. His face is so young and gorgeous. Eyes like peridot gems on fire. On fire for him. Dean slowly enters Sam. "Dean."

Dean loves making Sam buck and sweat as he teases him and brings him close to the edge. It's this, however. This that brings Dean so close to orgasm that he has to close his eyes. He opens his eyes and sees Sam still looking at him like he did the first time they made love. So open and full of love. Dean moves slowly and watches his young lover react. Hands touching and pulling Dean closer.

"I need, De." Sam's almost incoherent.

Dean knows what he needs. "Shhh. I got you." He kisses Sam's throat and moves faster. He sits up on his knees and holds Sam's thighs in his hands as he forcefully fucks his lover.

Sam arches his back. "YES! Fuck me!" He pounds the floor with his fist. His head arches back as intoxicating sensations from prostate stimulation flows through him. His hard cock is leaking as Dean holds it in his hand.

Dean doesn't stroke his brother's cock. He just lightly squeezes and releases. "Beautiful as ever Sammy." Dean thrusts faster. He can feel his own orgasm building. "Give it to me Sam. Let me see you lose yourself."

Sam has a face that might look like he's in pain, but Dean knows he's blitzed out of his mind. He thrashed his head a bit and then grabs his own hair. "DEAN!" His body tenses up. His cock throbs in Dean's hand as he cums. "Fuck De!" He reaches up. "Come here!"

They wrap their arms around each other. Sam closes his legs around Dean's hips as Dean gives a few final thrusts. Dean's body tensed up and he silently cums in his brother's loving embrace. He trembles in Sam's arms and kisses his neck. "I missed you."

Sam rocks Dean as he holds him in his arms. He kisses his cheek. "Welcome home De. Now that you're here, I'm never letting you go."

"Promise, bitch?" Dean nips Sam's ear.

"Pinky swear, jerk." He links his pinky with his brothers.

~~~~~~~~~~

_**~Heaven Sometime Later~** _

Sam and Dean are playing video games in their living room. As usual, it's a bright sunny day and the curtains are open filling their home with sunlight. They have a 75 inch TV, every game console and game they could ever want and a dark Italian leather sofa with recliners on each end. The center of the sofa folds open into a place for their snacks and drinks. They don't need a TV remote or any other kind of remote. They just say it and the TV or stereo does it.

Everything in their heaven is "think it and you got it". You need more orange juice? Think it, the juice suddenly reappears. It's taken some time for the guys to get use to it. They had Jack and John, Jr. in their heaven for a bit, but didn't like how fake it felt. So they stopped with having fake family in their heaven.

They're playing video games when their doorbell rings. They look at each other confused. Sam says, "It's not me doing it." Dean shakes his head. "It's not me."

The doorbell rings again. The men get up and open the door. It's Jack and John, Jr.. Dean and Sam are surprised. Sam asks, "Is it really you?"

Jack hugs Sam and starts crying. "Dad!"

John hugs Dean. Dean pats his son's back as a tear slips down his cheek. "You guys come on inside."

Jack lets Sam go, but holds his hand. He's waited a very long time to see his dad again. Sam's very emotional because Jack got his soul and was able to hold on to it. Something Dean said would be impossible.

They sit down over coffee and talk. Jack asks how Sam got his soul.

"I found out Rowens had it. She took a piece of your soul while you were sick from losing your grace. I was furious." Sam takes a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, your dad got even." Dean chuckles.

"I made a fair trade with her. A piece of my soul for your soul. I told her only Dean was allowed to do the extraction of the piece of my soul and she agreed. She had no idea a spell was put on my soul. Anyone using my soul in a spell would die and my soul would return to me unharmed." Sam grins.

Jack's shocked. "She didn't..."

Sam nods. "She did. I felt my soul return and we found her dead. We searched her body for the resurrection pouch she puts under her skin. We found it on her hip and I burned it using holy oil. She instantly turned to ashes and dust."

"I can't believe she betrayed me and you like that." Jack is truly amazed.

Dean explains, "We're not at all shocked. Rowena was very self centered. She was only out to get what benefited her. If helping you or us in any way benefited her, she'd do it. There was a time I thought she'd changed. She never changed."

Sam disagrees. "She did change when Lucifer showed her his true self and killed her by crushing her skull and burning her. Of course her resurrection pouch brought her back. She wanted vengeance against him. She had her chance many times, but never really gave it 100%." He looks at Jack. "As much as she hated Lucifer, she couldn't kill him." Sam laughs. He looks at Dean. "She really hated Lucifer, but she liked angels a lot."

Dean laughs. "Oh yeah! She had a thing for Cas and we caught her messing around with Gabriel in the bunker library."

"NO WAY!" Jack and John say it together.

"Yes way!" Sam and Dean say it together.

They go on chatting like this for hours.

Jack invites them to visit their heaven. "The door says "John C. Winchester, Jr." on it. My names not on the door yet because I'm not dead."

Sam and Dean are once again shocked. Dean asks what happened.

"John was at a crime scene and got attacked by vampires. The whole crime scene crew and police were all attacked and killed. I felt John in danger and arrived as he died. I knew if I brought him back, I'd lose my soul. I killed every vampire without using my powers."

John nods, "You should have seen him. A true Winchester."

He squeezes John's hand. "I saw John's ghost. He wanted to haunt me. I forbid it. I told him I can come and go as I please in heaven. I'd be there soon. Here I am." Jack hugs John. John holds Jack close.

Sam clears his throat. "So uh, Cas and you are still living in the bunker?"

Jack sits up and looks his dads in the eyes. "We want to blow it up. Castiel and I both want to live here. We aren't dead, but this is our home. My home is with John, both of you and Castiel."

Sam nods in agreement. "You should."

Dean holds Sam's hand and rests his head on Sam's shoulder. The bunker was more of a home to Dean than it was to Sam. Sam knows this. Sam wraps his arm around his brother. "If you need a room like you had there, you can create one here. All the things you had there, you can have here. You know that, right?"

Dean sighs, "It's not the same. The only things in heaven that are real are us."

Sam grins, "That's all we'll ever need." He kisses Dean's forehead.

He looks to Jack who's comforting John. Seems he's also upset about the bunker being destroyed. The home of his teens and where he learned to be a man. He became a hunter and contributing member of society while living in those dimly lit underground rooms.

Sam then remembers something. "The Book of the Damned and the Codex."

"You're right." Dean forgot too.

"Inside Dean's bedroom, in his closet is a panel that moves. Once you find it, move it over and you'll find a safe. The combination to open it is 12-05-54. Our mom's birthday. Inside it are the two books we just mentioned in a locked box. The Book of the Damned can't be burned or destroyed. It was written on human flesh and is highly cursed. Countless people have died because of this book. The Codex is used to translate it. My suggestion is to keep them it in the box they're in. It has warding to keep others from finding it. Place the box in a pressure resistant plastic container that won't bust in the deepest part of the ocean. It needs to resist up to 8 or 9 tons of pressure. Put the whole thing in the belly of a good sized vessel and sink the ship into the Mariana Trench at the part called "Challenger Deep". That part is almost 7 miles deep. No one should be able to find it if you do that. Right?"

The 3 men at the table look at Sam in awe of his mind and how it works.

"Ah. No. No one should ever even think to look there. I would think." Jack grins.

"Get Cas to help you, of course."

"Of course."

Dean smiles. "Afterward you guys can blow up the bunker. Roast weenies and marshmallows over the bonfire."

"Why would we do that?" Jack's so literal at times.

"He's being a smart ass." Sam stands up and hugs Jack. "You be careful."

"I will, I promise."

**_~Earth~_ **

Jack and Cas do as Sam suggested. It took time finding a vessel and getting it into position at night. Cas took care of sinking the Book of the Damned while Jack was selling the last car from the bunker.

Cas set bombs off on the ship so it would sink. The books in their locked box and safely secured in a pressure resistant container. Cas placed the box far enough away from the explosives it won't be affected. The box is also anchored to the vessel with plenty of galvanized chains. Even if the outer container fails, the chains will still hold the box/books in place.

Cas returns to the bunker and reports to Jack that the deed is done.

Jack reports he sold Castiel's truck for $50,000. The $800,000 they collected for selling all the cars, including Baby, Jack's going to give to charity. It's what John did with most of his inheritance from his birth parents. Jack likes helping others and leaving the world better than it was when he entered it.

Jack has a box he wants to take to heaven. They leave the bunker after dousing the place with fuel accelerates and setting many C4 explosives to remote detonate.

Jack has the detonator switch, but can't flip it. Cas takes it and does it for him. They both get thrown back as the explosion ends up being way more intense than expected. They stand up and watch their home on Earth burn. Jack picks up his box of collected items.

They make sure the place adequately burns before the fire department arrives. The fire trucks had to change flat tires on the way. Imagine that? Nothing will be salvageable. No books, files, pictures or articles of anything. Nothing.

_**~Heaven~** _

Arriving in heaven, they enter John's heaven and are surprised by what they find. It's a birthday party for John, Jr. and everyone was invited.

Cas and Jack find themselves out by the lake where John had his first birthday party with the Winchesters. Everyone is listening to classic rock while playing games, drinking and having fun

John rushes up to hug and kiss Jack. Jack sets the box he's holding down and kisses John properly.

John introduces Jack to his mother, Tiana Carmichael. Jack smiles and gives her a hug she wasn't expecting. "I'm so happy to finally meet you! I've heard only good things about you."

She laughs as she hugs Jack. "Likewise."

Kelly Kline, Jack's mom approaches. "Mom!" Jack hugs her. "Have you met John's mom, Tiana?"

Kelly kisses Jack's cheek. "I met her just a short while ago. We were talking about how proud we are of our boys." She rubs Jack's back.

Jack sees Sam and Dean talking with Mary. "Will you please excuse me for a bit?"

Kelly can see Jack is a bit upset. "Sure honey." She watches him head toward the Winchesters.

Jack approaches Mary. "Mary." She turns and sees Jack. She immediately hugs him and they both have tears. Jack hugs her back. "I'm so sorry."

"Shhh. It was also my own fault, Jack." She looks into his teary eyes. "I was pushing you too hard. I do that."

Dean and Sam are nodding their heads. She glares at them and they turn away like they're looking for the table with the snacks on it.

"I didn't know how powerful my words and thoughts could be. I'm so terribly sorry. You didn't deserve to die."

She wipes his tears. "Jack, I was already dead. I was living on borrowed time. It's okay. I forgive you."

Jack hugs her. "Thank you. I don't deserve it."

"Yes you do." She comforts him. "More than you know."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my story. Please let me know what you think. Your kudos and comments encourage me more than you could ever know. ❤


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